


Devotion

by pterawaters



Series: Mr. Sandman [13]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Asexual Will Byers, Byers Family Superpowers, Established Relationship, Family Drama, Fluff, Friendship, Holidays, Jonathan Byers Has Powers, Marriage Proposal, Moving In Together, Multi, Polyamory, Queerplatonic Relationships, Sharing a Bed, Weddings, Will Byers Has Powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:20:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 32,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22592401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pterawaters/pseuds/pterawaters
Summary: Regarding the quiet work of love, in all its forms.
Relationships: Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair, Robin Buckley/Original Female Character(s), Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson, Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler, Will Byers & Eleven | Jane Hopper & Mike Wheeler
Series: Mr. Sandman [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1527764
Comments: 74
Kudos: 107





	1. Summer's End

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the thirteenth installment of this series!
> 
> If you're new here, this work will not make much sense without reading at least the previous one, [Entanglement](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22207384/chapters/53021710). 
> 
> If you're not new here, welcome back! I hope you enjoy this part of the series!

**_July 1987_ **

“Hey, Mom,” Steve said into the motel room phone. 

“Steven!” Harriet replied, as if genuinely surprised to hear from him. He called so infrequently that she probably was. Not that he meant _not_ to call her. There had just been so much going on, she hadn’t felt like a priority. 

He thought he also might have been punishing her a little bit for not fighting harder to keep in contact with him after his high school graduation. 

“How are you, darling?”

“Good,” Steve told her, watching Nancy walk across the motel room, grab something from her suitcase, and walk back to the bathroom. Jonathan was still mostly asleep, though he’d snaked his arm around Steve’s waist when Steve first sat up and grabbed the phone. “We finished up the job we had out west. We’re heading back to Hawkins now.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful to hear,” she replied. “Would you and Jonathan like to come stay at the house?”

“Um, yeah. If that’s still alright?” Steve hooked the thumb of his free hand into the ring hanging over his heart. “We might stay a week or two.”

“Jonathan doesn’t want to spend some time with his family?”

“They actually came to visit us out in Oregon,” Steve told her. “And we’ll head back to Springfield for the last few weeks of summer.”

“That sounds great,” she replied. “Oh, I got the postcard you sent. Did you get to enjoy the mountains at all?"

“Yeah,” he told her. “We ended up hiking a _lot_.”

“Well, I can’t wait to hear all about it, sweetheart.”

After ironing out some of the details, Steve said goodbye to his mother and hung up the phone.

He figured he’d get up and join Nancy in the shower, but when he tried to move, Jonathan tightened his hold. With a laugh, Steve patted Jonathan’s arm. Then he put his palm on Jonathan’s upper arm and realized it took up more of his hand than it used to.

“Did you spend all that time you were gone lifting weights?” Steve asked Jonathan, squeezing his arm and determining that yep, most of that extra size was muscle.

"Mn-mm," Jonathan said in the negative. He turned his head so less of his face was buried in the pillows, and said, "Chopped wood for heat. Did mechanic work.”

“Wow, okay.” Steve squeezed Jonathan’s arm again. He put the same hand around his own upper arm, and there wasn’t much of a difference. Just to make sure he wasn’t imagining things, Steve put his arm down next to Jonathan’s craning his neck to get a good angle of comparison. 

“What are you doing?” Jonathan asked, rubbing his face against Steve’s lower back.

Steve told him, “Trying to see if your arms are bigger than mine now.”

Laughing, Jonathan gave Steve another hug and then pulled away, rolling onto his back. “You wanna compare dicks, too? Make sure yours is still bigger?” He gave Steve a mischievous smile as he stretched, putting his hands behind his head. God, Jonathan’s bigger arms were really doing it for him.

“Well, now that you mention it,” Steve told him, pulling the covers down and straddling Jonathan’s thighs. He reached for Jonathan’s cock, pausing to ask, “Can I?”

Jonathan rolled his eyes, but he nodded. 

Steve took Jonathan’s cock in his hand and stroked it, getting a little thrill up his spine as he felt it harden in his hand. Jonathan hummed a pleased sort of noise, his eyes closed and his breaths speeding up. 

“I thought you wanted to–” Jonathan took a sharp breath.

“It’s only a fair comparison if we’re both hard,” Steve explained, wiping some of the precome from the tip of Jonathan’s cock with his thumb. Then he tasted his thumb, chasing the flavor with his tongue and feeling his own dick start to get with the program.

With a breath of a laugh, Jonathan pushed himself up to sitting. He kissed Steve and wrapped his hand around Steve’s dick, stroking in time with Steve’s hand.

“Fuck,” Steve said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. Jonathan’s hand around him was dry, but it was still warm and tight and felt amazing. Jonathan’s lips on his neck didn’t hurt either. 

But then Jonathan stopped and said, “There.”

Steve was curious enough that he only minded stopping a little bit. He pushed on Jonathan’s chest, saying, “Lay back down.”

Smiling, he did as Steve asked, keeping his fingertips on Steve’s knees. With Jonathan laying down, it was easier for Steve to line them up, starting at the base. He wrapped one hand around both cocks, and there was about a finger’s width difference in length. 

“I’m still longer,” Steve said, bending over to the side to get a better look. “A little bit thicker too, I think.”

“Happy?” Jonathan asked, pushing his hands up Steve’s thighs. Steve looked up at Jonathan, and the warm feeling in his chest was almost overwhelming. 

Steve leaned forward, cupping Jonathan’s face in his hands. “Yes, very,” he replied, taking a long moment to meet Jonathan’s eyes before kissing him again.

Jonathan put one hand in Steve’s hair and the other around Steve’s shoulders, holding him close, kissing him long and slow.

~*~

“That’s insane,” Dustin said, perched on the picnic table next to Steve. It was late, the sun starting to go down, and Steve wished there was someplace else to hang out and have a conversation in Hawkins. The woods at the edge of the park still freaked him out. “So Nancy and Jonathan are older than you now? And so’s their kid?”

“Yep,” Steve said with a nod. “So, yeah. That’s been my summer so far.” He nudged Dustin with his shoulder. “What about you?”

“Camp was fun,” Dustin said. “Like, having Lucas there was great. Except…”

“Except what?” Steve asked him. 

Dustin shrugged. “Suzie didn’t end up coming to camp this year. She caught mono. From kissing another guy.”

“Ouch!” Steve said, rubbing Dustin’s back. “Sorry. That’s rough, I know.”

“You’ve been cheated on?”

“Not _technically_ ,” Steve admitted. “But there was like one day in Junior year where I _did_ think Nancy cheated on me with Jonathan. It sucked.”

“But she didn’t cheat?”

Steve shook his head. “Nah. It wasn’t like that.”

“Was that before or after you both started dating him?”

“Like two months before,” Steve said with a little laugh. “So, do you know the kid Suzie kissed?”

Dustin shook his head. “She met him in Utah. He’s probably Mormon.”

Steve hummed in sympathy, not _quite_ sure what Mormon meant, but thinking that asking might be a little unwelcome. Wanting to cheer up Dustin, Steve said, “Two years is a long time for a long distance relationship like that.” He gave Dustin another nudge. “Hey, at least now you’ve got some good practice in, for when you meet the next special someone.”

“That’s one way to look at it,” Dustin admitted. After a silent moment that Steve spent watching the trees a little _too_ intently, Dustin asked, “So, what’s she like?”

“Who?” Steve asked, still focused on the trees. 

“Nancy and Jonathan’s kid.”

“Charlie’s great,” Steve insisted. “Well, she’s kind of mean. And shy. And moody. But once you get through that, she’s great. Funny. And she tries not to, but she really cares about people.”

“So she’s basically a female Jonathan,” Dustin said, raising his eyebrows and shrugging when Steve gave him an indignant look. 

“No!” Steve replied. “She’s– she’s half Nancy, too. And, like, her own person and everything.”

“But she’s got powers…like Jonathan.”

“Yes, but quit making it weird. She’s basically my daughter.”

“ _I’m_ making it weird?” Dustin laughed. “Dude, it was already super-weird.”

“Yeah, I know.” Steve sighed. “Anyway, she’s probably going to come visit us in Chicago once we’re sure everything out in Cedarville is really over.” He leaned back with his elbows on the picnic table. “We’ll set it up so you can meet her.”

“You got any pictures?”

Steve shook his head, but then he remembered. “Oh, I do have one on me.” He took his wallet out of his pocket and slipped out the photo, handing it to Dustin.

“This is a baby.”

“Duh,” Steve said. “But wasn’t she cute? Jonathan took that when Charlie was a day old.”

“She looks like an old man.”

Steve gasped and snatched the photo back. “Dude!”

Dustin laughed. “I’m sorry, man. She just doesn’t look done yet!”

“Oh, and your baby pictures look any better?” Steve scoffed and carefully put the picture back in his wallet.

“Probably not,” Dustin admitted. After a moment, he asked, “Was it hard, not getting to bring her home like that?”

Steve nodded. “I was kind of looking forward to it, you know? It would have been difficult, but I just wanted...I wanted to show that I could do it, that we could be a family." He paused, failing not to think about what might have been. "Of course, I only had a few days between finding out she existed and then having to give her up. Nancy and Jonathan had closer to a year. They’ve had a harder time of it.”

Dustin sighed. 

“I think…” Steve fidgeted with his hands. “I think that’s why Jonathan wants her to come visit us so bad. He wants to start making up for all that lost time he didn’t get.”

“Makes sense.” They were silent for a long, but peaceful moment. Looking around at the quickly-darkening park, Dustin broke the silence by asking, “Wanna grab some burgers and stop by the arcade?”

“Sure,” Steve said. “Yeah, that sounds great.”

~*~

After being away for so long, Nancy didn’t mind so much staying at the house with her family while Steve and Jonathan stayed with Steve’s mom. Still, on the seventh day after they passed through Chicago, Nancy was more than a little eager to get out of there. 

She got up fairly early, and got showered and dressed. Nancy even beat her mother down to the kitchen, making herself an egg and toast for breakfast. Then, because she had entirely too much nervous energy, she left a note and started walking. 

It wasn’t that far to Steve’s old neighborhood, especially since she was used to walking the mountain trails around Cedarville. By the time she made it there, it was still kind of early to be showing up at the house unannounced. Except as she got close to the house, the front door opened, and Jonathan was waiting there for her with a smile.

Grinning, Nancy hopped up the front stairs and all but jumped into his arms. “You knew I was here, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” he said, kissing her and bringing her inside before closing the door. “What are you so excited about? I could feel you for the past twenty minutes.”

Pulling Jonathan into another kiss, nibbling at and licking his lips, Nancy smiled. Then she said, “We’re good to stop using condoms again.”

Jonathan took a sharp, surprised breath. “Really?”

Nancy nodded, giggling when Jonathan pulled her into a harder, deeper kiss. She broke away and led him up the stairs and into Steve’s old bedroom. Jonathan locked the door behind them as Nancy kicked off her shoes and stripped out of the rest of her clothes as fast as she could. Then she got into bed with Steve, who was still asleep. Jonathan followed her, his now-naked body pressed up against her back.

Nancy ran her hand across Steve’s chest, kissing his throat and then the underside of his jaw. Jonathan brushed Nancy’s hair off her shoulders, pressing wet kisses to her skin. Nancy groaned softly at the feeling, hitching her thigh up over Steve’s hip and turning his head so she could kiss him.

Steve finally woke up, murmuring, “Hey, Nance,” and sliding his hand up her arm as she kissed him again. 

Behind her, Jonathan asked, “Can I?” He was hard already and grinding against her thigh.

“Yeah, yes,” Nancy told him, pushing her hand up into Steve’s hair and holding him close as she kissed him harder. 

Jonathan brushed his fingers between her legs, spreading the wetness from her pussy up and around her clit. Nancy gasped at the feeling, licking into Steve’s mouth and tilting her hips back against Jonathan. 

Steve groaned softly into Nancy’s mouth, kissing her back and reaching past her to brush Jonathan’s face with his fingers. Jonathan’s breath was quick and hitching as he pressed his cock against Nancy’s pussy. She urged him on with a little noise, and then he thrust in.

“Fuck, guys,” Steve said, breaking away from Nancy’s mouth and reaching for the nightstand. “We need–”

“Not anymore,” Nancy told him, an involuntary noise pressed out of her throat when Jonathan thrust in harder. She pulled Steve back to her. “C’mere, baby.”

“We’re good?” Steve asked again.

“Yeah, we’re totally good,” Nancy replied, her body rocking against Steve’s as Jonathan started fucking her in earnest. “Shit, Jonathan! Oh!”

Steve gave in, curling back toward Nancy, kissing her, his hand hot on her face, her neck. “Fuck,” he muttered, skimming his hand down Nancy’s side, lighting up her skin. He grabbed her hip, kissing Nancy again and grinding against her. “You guys are so fucking hot. Jesus.”

“Oh,” Nancy whined, pushing herself up and grabbing Steve’s hip, pulling him closer in. “Want you so bad, baby,” she whispered against his lips, grinding her clit against his hard cock.

“Same time?” Jonathan asked, breathless, his rhythm slowing as he waited for an answer.

The suggestion made Nancy’s mouth water and her pussy clench around Jonathan’s cock. “Yeah, yeah, please,” she sighed, biting at Steve’s neck, digging her nails into his hip like pulling harder would make him faster to fill the gnawing craving low in her belly.

Steve cried out, but he dropped his hand down to his cock, angling it better toward her pussy. Jonathan pulled out, making room for Steve to press in. “Oh, fuck. Jesus, Nance, you feel so good.”

He gave a few thrusts before pulling back and letting Jonathan press in again. 

Nancy pulled Steve so he was more on top of her, with Jonathan beneath. “Fuck us, baby,” she whispered to Steve. “C’mon. We need you.”

Steve groaned, pressing hard kisses to Nancy’s lips. And then on one of Jonathan’s thrusts in, Steve joined him. The tight press of both of them inside her felt incredible and Nancy had to bite her lip to keep from crying out. 

“Ohh, fuck,” Jonathan said beneath her, moving in sync with Steve as he drew back and then pressed in again. “I can’t– I can’t– oh, god!”

“Please!” Nancy cried, reaching back for him. “Just a little more?”

Steve turned them a little farther, getting up on his knees and grabbing Nancy by the hips and just _pulling_ her onto his cock. Jonathan held on and pushed, and then Steve changed his angle just a little and Nancy came _hard_.

She bit down and clenched her teeth, but her throat still made a muffled scream. Jonathan gasped in her ear, his fingers clenching around her hips, before he let out a loud breath and a low, “Ohhhh!” He pressed his nose against the corner of Nancy’s jaw, and Nancy held him close as he came.

“Oh, Jesus,” Steve muttered, leaning forward, his hands planted on the mattress on either side of Nancy’s and Jonathan’s heads. Thrusting hard and fast, he said, “Oh, fuck. God, your come feels so good. Both of you. Love you.” He dipped down, kissing Nancy quickly, then Jonathan. 

Jonathan still breathing hard in her ear, Nancy reached up and put one hand in Steve’s hair, grasping near the scalp and pulling so his throat was close enough to suck on, then skim with her teeth.

“Ah, fuck!” Making one last thrust, Steve pressed in so hard and so deep as he came that all Nancy had to do was roll her hips once and she was coming again, shaking and crying out as Jonathan held her.

When she let go of his hair, Steve dropped his head to Nancy’s shoulder, breathing hard and laughing softly. “Ohhhhh my god,” he said with a sigh, slowly rolling his hips a couple more times.

Nancy couldn’t help but giggle too, turning her head far enough to kiss Jonathan. He returned her kisses with a happy sigh, pulling out, but wrapping his arms around her to keep her close.

Steve slid most of his weight to the side as he collapsed, but he kept one thigh over Nancy’s and one arm around her and Jonathan, holding them both. Jonathan got most of the way out from under Nancy, but he stayed close enough that he still had Steve's arm on him.

Nancy smiled and touched Steve’s face with her fingers, following the line of his eyebrow, that of his nose, his cheek. Eyes still closed, he smiled and then pursed his lips until Nancy kissed him.

“Back to sleep?” Jonathan asked, a bit of a yawn in his voice.

Nancy closed her eyes, settling in as best she could while completely wrapped up in other bodies. A minute later, Steve’s soft snores in her ear lulled Nancy into slumber.

~*~

**_August 1987_ **

"Okay, this neighborhood is pretty well centered between our schools," Nancy said, getting out of the car and stepping up onto the sidewalk. 

"Building looks nice enough," Jonathan said, looking up at the four story brick building. 

"There's gotta be something wrong with it, though," Steve pointed out, locking the car. "Otherwise why would it be so cheap?"

Looking around, Nancy said, "There's a lot of bars on this street. Maybe it gets noisy at night."

"Ding, ding, ding!" said a voice from the doorway of the building. A thin man wearing tight jeans and a blue polo stood there. "Give the lady a point. Nancy, is it?"

"That's me," Nancy told him, walking forward to shake his hand. "Bernard? We spoke on the phone."

"We did," he said in agreement, looking over Nancy's shoulder. " _These_ are your roommates, sweetheart?"

Confused by Bernard's not _exactly_ disapproving tone, Nancy said, "Yes. What's the problem? I checked and you can't discriminate based on marital status. Not anymore!"

"Discrimin–" he repeated, like he was offended. "No, no, no, no. That's not… It's just, you're all so _nice_ looking. I'm not sure it's your type of neighborhood."

"Can we just see the apartment?" Nancy asked him, pressing at the pain between her eyes. A hand settled on her shoulder, and Nancy thought it was probably Jonathan's. "Every place else is either asking for too much or is in the completely opposite direction from where we need to be for school. Please?"

"Okay. If you insist." Bernard shrugged, waving them into the building. "Like I said, it's a two bedroom. One bath. At the back of the building, so it's not _too_ noisy. Second floor." He went up the stairs as he spoke, leading them to the right side of the hallway. He put his keys in the first door and opened it. "The building's from the fifties. Not very old yet, which is good. I don't usually have to make too many repairs."

He turned on the entryway light and led the way into the apartment.

Nancy went through and into it, trying to keep a critical eye. The foyer led into the living room (small) and then the kitchen (smaller). Back from the kitchen was a hallway, which Nancy followed. On the kitchen side was a bathroom, but across the hallway was a bedroom.

As she entered the bedroom, Nancy noticed its bright windows and then all the _space_ it had. It was plenty of space for their bed, and – she gasped – it had built-in bookshelves. "Oh," she said, turning to Jonathan as he joined her. "This is it."

"This room is almost as big as the cabin was," Jonathan said, wrapping his arms around her.

"Look at the bookshelves," she told him, turning Jonathan around to face them.

He gaped for a moment, letting go of Nancy. Then he smiled. "Oh, Nance…"

Steve came into the room, looked at the bookshelves, and said, "Neat," before draping his arm across Nancy’s shoulders. "What are you guys thinking?"

"It's the first one we've seen that could _actually_ fit our queen-sized bed," Nancy told him. "Should we see the other bedroom?"

"I saw it. Same as this one, only a little smaller," Steve said. "Make a good guest room."

"If we can convince Charlie to actually come visit sometime soon," Nancy replied. Pouting, she reached for Jonathan's hand. "I miss her."

"We can convince her," Jonathan insisted, squeezing Nancy's hand. Then he went to the windows. "There's a nice little courtyard out there," he said. "Couple of trees."

Steve joined him at the window, leaning close and whispering something that made Jonathan laugh.

From the doorway beside her, Bernard said softly, "Nevermind about what I said before. This is definitely your sort of neighborhood."

Nancy noticed the soft, almost wistful way Bernard watched Steve put his arm around Jonathan's shoulders. She understood.

"Oh. There's a lot of…" She wasn't quite sure what pronoun to use, since "them" felt like it removed Nancy too far from everything she did and everything she said and all the half-truths she told to keep not just Steve and Jonathan safe, but also herself. Nancy decided to go with, "...a lot of _us_ in this neighborhood?"

"Mm-hm," he said with a nod. "Come on. Let me show you the other room. It's smaller, but the closet is fantastic."

"Sure." Nancy chuckled and followed Bernard, fairly certain they'd just found their home for at least the school year, and perhaps until graduation, if things went well.

~*~

"I guess..." Will said, laying with his back on his bedroom floor and his legs up on his bed. He looked over at Mike, who was similarly sprawled out, but with his feet up on Will's desk chair. "I kinda get it. Like, I'll get little bits and pieces of the feeling from El's memories, or her dreams. But it's all just her. I don't feel any of it for myself. About _anyone_."

"I'm sorry," Mike said, but it was more like he thought he should be saying it than he was actually feeling it. "Not even, like holding hands or cuddling or kissing?"

Will sighed. "I don't know. Those _sound_ nice, and I kind of feel sad about not having them. But they're only like something I'd want to do with a friend. Like a _best_ friend." Will looked over at Mike. "Someone I loved, but as a friend."

"Yeah, I get that," Mike insisted. "That stuff is really, really nice. I don't want you to miss out on it, either."

"You just mean you don't want me always third-wheeling with you and El," Will replied, fidgeting with his fingers. "But, like, she holds my hand and hugs me like we're brother and sister and I love her so much, Mike. She's my _best_ friend. Like you are. How the hell am I supposed to find someone else I can be _this_ close with, that I can have that stuff with, and not have them expect me to have romantic feelings, too? I don't–"

"Here," Mike said, sitting up and scooting closer. He folded his hand into Will's, lacing their fingers together. "It doesn't have to be weird, unless you make it weird."

Will laughed, but he didn't pull his hand away. 

Mike brushed his thumb over Will's slowly, softly. "Is that okay?"

Looking over at Mike, Will nodded. "Yeah. That's really nice, actually. Like when El holds my hand."

Mike smiled. "Good." He sat there, holding Will's hand, and it was _nice_. It was so nice. After a couple minutes, Mike asked, "D'you think maybe you and me and El might be able to end up in the same place after high school?"

"Like Jonathan and Steve and Nancy?" Will asked.

Mike rolled his eyes. "Well, not _exactly_ like them. But wouldn't it be good? To still have each other?”

"Yeah," Will agreed, sitting up but keeping his hand in Mike's. He couldn't imagine El not wanting to be in the same place as Mike, and he couldn't imagine himself being separated from El. Not when she felt like his other half. He traced his fingers along the back of Mike's hand. "I've heard Caltech has an awesome engineering program."

With a grin, Mike leaned closer and whispered, "Think they'll let us build a time machine for credit?"

Laughing, Will let go of Mike's hand and pulled him into a hug. "Maybe this is all I really need," Will whispered back. "My best friend, willing to hug me."

"Whenever you want," Mike insisted, squeezing Will just hard enough. "Even if you need one in the middle of the night, and I'm back in Hawkins. I'll steal my mom's car and come over."

Will laughed, but he noticed he was crying a little bit, too. "Thanks, Mike."

"You're welcome." He didn't let go.

 _Can I come in yet_? El asked from outside Will's room.

 _Sure_ , he told her, but he didn't let go of Mike.

The door opened, and then closed again. El sat on the floor behind Will, wrapping her arms around his middle and laying her cheek against his back.

"We were talking about where to go after high school," Will told her – out loud for Mike's benefit.

Mike added, "Will thought maybe California."

"Max liked it there," El said. "We could be all together. Happy."

"Yeah," Will told them, feeling like a knot in his chest was starting to unravel. "We could."

~*~

Jonathan used his last night in Springfield to spend some time floating in the sensory deprivation tub in his family’s basement. The first thing he did was reset his shielding, just to make doubly-sure it would hold when he moved back to Chicago. 

The next thing he did was reach out to Charlie. 

_Hey, do you have some time to talk?_

_Jesus Christ, Jonathan!_ Charlie cried out in his direction. _You scared me half to death!_

Jonathan tried and failed not to chuckle. _Sorry. Want me to call on the phone instead?_

_Yes!_

Jonathan sighed. He got out of the tub, showered off the salt, got dressed, and went up to the kitchen. He dialed the phone and sat down as it rang.

When she picked up, Charlie asked, “Was that so hard?”

“The other way is almost as easy.”

Charlie scoffed. “So, what’s going on?”

“How’d your sweep of Cedarville go? All quiet on the western front?”

“Yeah,” she said, the phone crackling as she shifted around. “None of that weird energy feeling. No one disappeared.”

Nodding, Jonathan said, “Good. That’s good.”

“Yeah, but _why_? Why did it stop?” Charlie asked. “How did bringing you guys back stop it?”

“Nancy understands the theory better,” Jonathan said. “But she thinks it was specifically her and me coming back after leaving you there that ‘collapsed the timelines’.”

“Oh.” Charlie’s voice sounded small. 

Trying to reassure her, Jonathan added, “Will thinks it has more to do with how much power we used. Like, we drained out all the extra vibration energy that was there when we traveled back. Without that energy, there’s no residual teleportation field.”

Jonathan couldn’t feel Charlie’s emotions from this far away, but her silence certainly said a lot. 

“What is it?” he asked. 

After a long moment, Charlie murmured, “I caused it.”

“You didn’t know what you were doing,” Jonathan insisted. “It’s not your fault, Charlie.”

“Yeah, but I can’t help but feel like if I’d just been braver and actually _left_ Logan, it would have stopped happening.”

“I really doubt it.”

Charlie sighed. “What if it didn’t happen this time because you and El taught me how to control this...this _thing_?”

"All the more reason to come out here."

"For a visit."

"No, look," Jonathan said. "I was thinking you could come here for more than just a visit, Charlie."

"What does that mean?"

"I mean, _move_ out here," Jonathan told her. "Spend some real time with us. Unless there's something keeping you in Logan. Besides the past."

Charlie was silent for a moment before she said, "I don't know. Move there? I just… I'm… I don't know."

Nodding, Jonathan said, "Take some time. You know, to think about it."


	2. Settling In

**_September 1987_ **

The first time Nancy walked into the newspaper offices fall semester, she had two framed articles in her bag. The first was the one about Execugen that she'd had published in January. The second was the Oregonian article published in July. Except when desks were assigned by the new editor, Zach Martins, Nancy's name wasn't called.

After the meeting, Nancy went up to him. "Hey, Zach. Are you sure there's not an extra desk in the newsroom for me?"

"Desks are only for upperclassmen," he said, writing something down on a legal pad. "You can use the common workspaces."

Stepping a little closer and taking the framed articles out of her bag, Nancy told him, "I had a desk last year. I don't know if you know about the articles I–"

"I know," he said, finally looking up at her. "Desks are still only for upperclassmen. Those are the rules."

"But last year…"

Zach sighed. "Last year Brian wanted to get in your pants, Nancy. That's the only reason he gave you a desk. He used to brag about it when you weren't here."

Nancy closed her eyes and sighed. "Yeah, I know. I was just hoping merit had _something_ to do with it."

"Seniority still means something to me," he told her. "My classmates have been working at this paper for three years. They need the big articles for their portfolios, so they can get jobs after they graduate." He pointed at the frames in Nancy's arms. "Not everyone has a journalist _friend_ willing to put their name on blockbuster national stories."

"I _wrote_ these stories," Nancy insisted. She wanted to say that she wrote an entire book, but there was no good explanation for its 1965 publication date.

"Then you should have no trouble being part of the team and writing the articles I assign you," Zach said, giving Nancy a long look.

He wanted her to prove herself. Again. 

At least this time it didn't feel like she was getting special treatment – good or bad. Nodding, Nancy told Zach, "Yeah. I can do that. I just want everything to be fair. For _everyone_."

"With me," he said with a friendly nod, "it will be. I promise."

~*~

"You could live with us for a little bit," Steve told Robin, following her through the department store. They'd met at the Fort Wayne mall for lunch and gossip. So far the lunch had been nonexistent and the gossip had been Robin blurting out that her bosses were recommending a transfer not just to Chicago, but also into the FBI.

"We have that second bedroom. I mean we mostly just use it for appearances and so Nancy can have her own closet, but you could crash for awhile if you needed to. Just so you don't have to worry about finding a place right away."

"Yeah, maybe," Robin said, leading the way to the luggage section of the store. She picked up a red suitcase and asked, "What do you think?"

"Why are we looking at luggage?"

"Because," Robin said, just a little too loudly. "I've never moved before. Don't you think I'll need luggage for moving?"

Okay. This was looking more and more like a freak out.

"Here," he said, reaching for the suitcase. Robin let him take it and set it aside. Then Steve clasped both her hands. "Robs, look at me. Everything is going to be fine. You wanted to transfer, remember?"

Robin nodded. "CIA was too clerical, since I didn't want to go overseas yet. At the FBI, I could be a field agent."

"So, this is a good thing," Steve insisted, meeting Robin's eyes until she nodded. "And we'll get to hang out all the time. It'll be great."

The edge of Robin's lip curled up into a tiny smile. "You're crazy if you think I'm staying with you longer than a week. The last time I stayed over, I left with emotional scarring."

"We weren't _that_ loud," Steve said with a scoff.

Rolling her eyes, Robin said, "You were loud enough. I did not need to know you enjoyed _that_ so much."

"What?" Steve asked her. "You thought I was the kind of jerk who could give and never take? Robin. Robs. We both know I'm better than that."

She held up her hand. "No, nope. We are not talking about this here."

"Then we can talk about it over lunch," he said with a grin, taking her hand and leading her away from the suitcases. "There's this noodle place that's supposed to be good."

"As long as it's not hot dogs or anything else phallic," she replied, sticking her tongue out in disgust.

Steve laughed. "Speaking of, there's this community center thing that I've been wanting to check out, but I've been too chicken. It would be better if you went with me."

"What sort of community center?" she asked.

" _Our_ kind," Steve told her. Lowering his voice he added, "Like lesbian and gay and stuff. Bi too, I'm assuming."

"Oh!" Robin said, giving Steve a bright smile. "Why can't you get Jonathan to go with you?"

"He probably would, but I haven't asked," Steve admitted. "I've been kind of paranoid about like, being able to get a job if I'm too far out there. Showing up to a specifically gay thing with my boyfriend seemed kind of… Risky."

"But showing up with your lesbian best friend is a different story?" Robin asked.

"Sure. It adds that plausible...thing."

"Plausible deniability?" Robin asked, and Steve nodded at her.

"Yeah, that."

"Okay, sure," Robin said, throwing one arm around Steve's shoulders and squeezing. "Let's do it."

~*~

Nancy woke to lips making their way in little kisses down her spine. She stretched and hummed at the attention. Broad hands rubbed up and down her back, digging in around her shoulders, prodding and soothing the sore muscles there.

"Mm, thank you, baby," she murmured, still half asleep.

"Feel good?" Steve asked, dipping one of his hands under the blankets to cup and squeeze the left cheek of her butt.

"Mmhmm," she said in agreement, turning over and pulling Steve to her for a series of soft, slow kisses.

As they kissed, Steve climbed on top of her, settling his hips between Nancy's thighs. When he trailed his kisses down her neck, she asked, "He went to work?"

"Like, two hours ago," Steve replied, sucking a little love bite into the side of Nancy's neck. 

"Mm. It'd be better if he didn't have to work Saturday mornings," she said, squeezing his hips with her thighs and pushing her fingernails back through his hair. 

Steve hummed. "Two jobs is too much. I wish he would just let us cover his third of the rent," Steve said, trailing his kisses down Nancy's chest. "You _never_ spend all the money your dad sends."

"And you've got all those tips from that fancy restaurant you're working at now." Nancy took a sharp breath when Steve nibbled at the underside of her breast. Steve's ring hung from his neck and dragged across Nancy's belly as he turned his attention to her other breast. "You know he's too proud to let us support him. I think he got too used to supporting me while we were away. Being the breadwinner. Hopefully he'll get used to letting us take some of that weight off his shoulders. You know, eventually."

"Eventually," Steve said in agreement, his lips ghosting over her skin. "I guess we'll have to think of something else to occupy our Saturday mornings." Steve kissed his way back to the center of Nancy's chest, and then down her belly.

"Hey," she said, nudging him with her thigh. "I've been wanting to ask for your help with something."

"Oh, yeah?" Steve asked, sticking his tongue in her belly button.

"Hey!" She laughed. "That tickles!"

Steve grinned up at her. "Sorry. Guess my aim was a little off." He started to trail kisses down from her belly button, but Nancy nudged him again with her leg.

"Hey, no. I'm serious," Nancy told him. "Can you focus, for like, two minutes?"

"I _was_ focused," he insisted, pouting a little when Nancy caught him under the arms and urged him back up where they could be face to face. 

"You're still thinking you want to coach as part of your job, right?" Nancy asked Steve.

"Yeah, definitely," he told her, finally looking intrigued by something other than sex. 

Placing her hand on Steve's cheek, Nancy asked him, "How would you like some practice coaching me?"

"Coaching you in what?" Steve asked her, leaning his face against her palm and giving her a teasing smile. "Softball?"

Nancy gave him an amused scoff. "No, I just…" She scooted up, sitting with her back against the headboard. "That whole first month I was in Cedarville by myself, I kept thinking… If only I'd been _faster_ , we wouldn't have been separated."

"Nance," he said softly, moving to sit beside her. "That...that _sucks_."

"Yeah," she agreed. "And now I have all this," she said, poking at her belly. "I just want to be faster. Stronger. More prepared."

"Sure," Steve told her. "Sure, we can do that. It'll be like when I used to train for cross country." He leaned closer and gave Nancy a kiss on the lips. "And just for the record, I love you no matter what shape your body is." He put his hand on her stomach. "You grew a whole person, babe. That's amazing. Please don't think you need to change anything about the way you look. Not for me. Not for Jonathan."

"No, that's not it," she insisted, pulling Steve closer. "I'm mostly just annoyed that a lot of my favorite clothes don't fit like they used to." She raised an eyebrow at him. "And don't try to tell me you haven't noticed the extra cleavage. I can see when you stare, you know."

Steve laughed and his cheeks went pink. "That red shirt, babe. Oh, I get so distracted."

Grinning, Nancy kissed him again. "But you'll help me?"

"I'd love to," he answered. "We're gonna have so much fun."

"I doubt that," she told him. "I want to do it anyway."

"Okay, all I heard was that you want to do it," Steve said, pulling Nancy back to lying on the bed and rolling on top of her. She laughed and he asked, "Oh, was this not what you meant?" His cock very deliberately nudged at her clit, making her squirm.

Still laughing, Nancy pulled Steve into another kiss. When she licked at his lips and into his mouth, Steve made a triumphant noise and replaced his cock with gentler, more agile fingers.

~*~

"No horror movies," Steve said, looking up at the movie theater showtimes. "There's something called Baby Boom."

Nancy shook her head. "No baby movies."

"It's a romantic comedy," Steve tried to tell her, but looking over he saw her face and realized he would be making a mistake to push it. "But you're right. No movies about babies."

His arm around Nancy's shoulders, Jonathan suggested, "What about The Princess Bride?"

"Sounds like a kid's movie," Steve said, but looking up at the board, he realized they were pretty much out of options. "So yeah that, or Fatal Attraction."

"Princess Bride," Nancy said, giving Steve a smile. "Let's see that one."

"You got it, babe," Steve said, stepping up to the window. "Three for the Princess Bride.”

Once they got inside the theater, Steve distracted Jonathan long enough that by the time they joined Nancy at the concessions stand, she’d already paid for the popcorn and sodas.

With a sigh, Jonathan said, “You guys, I _have_ money. You don’t have to pay for everything all the time.”

"What?" Nancy asked innocently. "We let you pay sometimes."

"Like when we had lunch on Tuesday," Steve said.

"That was literally three dollars worth of hot dogs and lemonade from the cart on the corner," Jonathan said, scoffing. "My Saturday job at the shop pays really well. I _have_ some money. Besides, if Charlie decides to come and live with us, she wants to pay a quarter of the rent."

"Wait," Steve said as they got into the theater and headed for the back row, "Charlie's thinking about _living_ with us?"

"Yeah," Jonathan said as they sat down with Nancy in the middle. "Is that okay?"

"When is she gonna come?" Steve asked, leaning close to Nancy. "Cause I told Robin she could stay with us while she looks for a place."

Nancy set the popcorn tub in her lap, saying, "Last time I talked to her, she was thinking mid October."

"You guys have _both_ been talking to her about living with us? When? Why haven't I been talking to her?" Steve grabbed a handful of popcorn. "She's mine too, you guys."

"She usually calls on her lunch break from Ed's," Nancy told him, leaning closer. "You've been working nights. You could call _her_ , you know."

"The last time I tried, she was still sleeping," Steve muttered, shifting down in his chair and leaning his head against Nancy's shoulder. "I guess it would be nice, having her living with us. Like over the summer."

"I think so," Jonathan said. 

As the movie started, Steve nodded and said, "Okay. I'll tell Robin she's on the couch when she comes to look for a place."

"Shh," Nancy told him, but she rested her cheek against his head. 

Steve figured he'd give the movie a few minutes before trying to get Nancy to make out with him. The theater was empty enough that he could probably switch seats and get Jonathan to make out with him instead, if Nancy wasn't interested. Except he forgot about making out when he got engrossed in the story. He didn't even notice when Nancy pulled his hand over onto her lap until Jonathan put his hand on both of theirs and gently squeezed. 

~*~

By three weeks into the fall semester, Jonathan realized something had to change. His classes were harder this year, and though taking the job at the oil change shop on Fridays and Saturdays had put him on a better footing money-wise, it also took up a lot of the time he used to spend studying. He wouldn't be able to keep his scholarship if he let his grades slip too far, so it was with a heavy heart that he approached his manager at the school photo lab.

"Hi, Gloria."

"Hey, kid," she said, taking his tray of completed photos and flipping through them. "These are good work."

Nodding, he sighed and then told her, "I have to quit. I can probably give you a week or two to find someone else."

"You _have_ to, huh?" she said, giving him a long look. "What would it take to keep you here?"

Jonathan shrugged as he did the math in his head. "You'd have to pay me three times as much."

Gloria laughed. "Yeah, this is a public university. I don't have that sort of budget."

"Sorry," Jonathan told her. "I really like the job. But I need the time for studying more than I need the money."

Nodding, Gloria said, "Well, kudos to you for recognizing it. You're a lot more mature than most of the college sophomores I know."

Jonathan couldn't help but chuckle and look away from Gloria. "Probably been through more than most of the college sophomores you know."

She tilted her head, looking at him for a moment, then said, "C'mere. Give me a goodbye hug."

Jonathan hugged Gloria, saying, "Thank you for the opportunity. It really was better than any of the other jobs I've had."

"The only one that let you work alone?" Gloria asked as she let him go.

Jonathan laughed, "Yeah."

"Well, here's hoping you'll find one that suits you when it comes to your career."

Jonathan smiled and nodded. As he left, he figured he would be okay doing a job where he had to work with someone else, if that someone else was a person he got along with. Like Nancy. He liked working with her a lot.

~*~

"Hey, so about that extra room," Steve said when he managed to get Robin on the line after playing phone tag with her all week.

"What about it?" Robin asked.

"Charlie's coming for a visit. Or moving here, actually, and Jonathan kind of offered it to her before I could tell him you needed it."

"Steve!"

"Robs, I'm sorry!" he insisted, laying back on his bed and looking up at the ceiling. “You can still stay on the couch! I'll even help you find a place to live." Her silence sounded grumpy, so Steve added, "We ended up in a really gay neighborhood, remember? I bet I can find you a studio or something really close by. You'll love it."

Robin sighed. "Okay, fine. But I want to meet this Charlie person who usurped my spot."

"You-what?" Steve asked her.

"Nevermind."

"Right." Steve didn't want to end the call on a bad note, so he asked, "How's everything going? The transfer and packing and shit?"

“Actually, really good," she told Steve. "What about you?"

"Class is good," he told her. "Jonathan's good now that Charlie's coming. Nancy's busy, but good. New job is good."

"I kind of wish I was still working with you," she said. "We had so much fun."

"We did," he agreed, noticing the wistfulness in her tone. "What's wrong, Robs? I thought you wanted this new FBI job."

"I don't know. I feel…" she paused for a long moment. "I feel like I'm missing out. Like I should be in college, too."

"So apply to start next year," Steve told her. "Get that cushy federal paycheck saved up and go back to school in the fall. I bet you could get in at UIC."

"And study what? I've already invested so much time doing this. If I left this job…"

"Study whatever you want," Steve told her. "Robs, just because they're getting you out of Hawkins doesn't mean you owe them the rest of your life."

Robin paused for a moment before asking, "When did you get smart?"

"I'm a college guy now," Steve insisted. "I even got these glasses I have to wear for reading."

"No!"

"Yeah!" Steve laughed. "I'm turning into such a nerd. I guess it's true…"

"What's true?" she asked, giggling as she took the bait.

Grinning, Steve told her, "You are what you eat."

"What you...you eat…?" 

"My girlfriend's a nerd," he explained.

Robin gasped, scandalized. "Steve!"

Her reaction was just what he was looking for, and he broke into loud laughter.

Laughing along with him, Robin cried, "You're a _dick_! That's what you are!"

Still laughing, Steve insisted, "Yep. Eat a lot of that too."

Robin's manic giggles made Steve smile, but they also made him miss her a whole lot.

~*~

**_October 1987_ **

Jonathan got to the airport fifteen minutes later than he wanted to – damn traffic – but still ten minutes before Charlie's flight was due to land. He parked the Omni in the terminal lot and hurried inside, checking the board so he knew which direction she'd be coming from.

All else failed, he'd meet her at the baggage claim like they planned, but he wanted to see her as soon as he could. So, he went through the metal detectors and hurried toward Charlie's arrival gate.

The jetway door was just being opened when Jonathan got there, so he sighed with relief and waited. And waited. And waited some more.

Just as Jonathan began to worry that Charlie hadn't gotten on the plane as promised, she came through the door. There was a blue canvas bag hanging from her shoulder and she wore a brown corduroy coat. There were dark circles under her eyes and her hair was longer than it had been over the summer. It wasn't quite as long as Steve's, but close.

"Hey, Charlie," he called with a wave to get her attention.

She smiled wider than he expected, and the sight made him grin in return. Charlie came over to him and let him pull her into a tight hug.

_I'm glad you're here_.

"Yeah, me too," she said out loud. "Thanks for coming to get me."

"What, are you kidding? Of course," he replied, jerking his head toward the baggage claim and tugging her arm until she followed him. "Steve and Nancy both wanted to come, but Steve has a mid-term right now and Nancy has a group project she couldn't miss."

Jonathan caught a confusing swirl of emotions from Charlie, so he asked her, "What is it?"

"You guys are really just college kids, aren't you?" she asked, a little bit of a frown on her face.

"Yeah," he said. "I know Steve has complained to you about class before. You were expecting something else?"

"No," she insisted, linking her arm around his. "Not really. It's just, everything that happened over the summer was so _much_. Midterms and group projects are kind of a let down after that."

As Jonathan chuckled, he noticed the background white-noise of the airport grow louder. At first he thought it was his shield faltering, but then he realized it was Charlie's.

He pulled her toward a quieter, darker alcove of the terminal, saying, "C'mere for a second."

When they reached the alcove, Jonathan took Charlie's hands and said, _Close your eyes_.

Once she did so, Jonathan brought her into the Inbetween and stepped her through strengthening her shield.

_I've_ been _trying_ , she told him, annoyed.

_It's not your fault for needing help_.

_Fuck off, Mr. Miagi_ , she replied, but he could feel her amusement and the way she tightened her grasp on his hands.

Showing her the fierce love he felt for her since before she was even born, Jonathan helped Charlie use her own echo of that feeling. Her shield locked into place, stronger and more solid than it had been since he left her in Oregon three months earlier.

When Jonathan opened his eyes, Charlie was smiling at him. With a wicked grin, she said, "Thanks, _Dad_."

"Oh, god!" he cried, laughing but turning away from her and walking toward baggage claim. When Charlie caught up, he said, "Please don't get into the habit of calling me that. It's going to be so hard to explain."

Charlie laughed – this was honestly the happiest he'd ever seen her – and said, "Okay, fine. _Jonathan_."

"Thank you." As they walked through the crowded airport, Jonathan knocked his shoulder against hers. "And thanks for coming. I know leaving home can be scary."

"Not so scary," Charlie said. "Not when I've got family to stay with."

Thinking about family, Jonathan asked, "How are your parents? Did you tell them about moving here?"

"Yeah," she said, stepping onto the escalator down to the baggage claim. "Except, I told them I already had a job."

"Doing what?"

"I couldn't exactly say I'd moved across the country to still be a waitress," she said. "So I might have… _embellished_."

"Oh, man," Jonathan said, covering his eyes for a second. "You sounded just like Nancy right then."

"What?" Charlie said with a shrug, like there was nothing wrong with that. "I told them I got a job as a sound engineer at a studio."

"Like, a music studio?" Jonathan asked her.

Charlie nodded. "I had an internship for like a minute when I lived in Portland after high school."

They stepped off the escalator and found the right baggage carousel. As they waited for Charlie's suitcases, Jonathan said, "I want to know everything about it."

"The internship?"

Jonathan nodded. "Yeah. And everything else, too."

Charlie sighed. "It was a long flight. I don't know if–"

"I meant _eventually_ ," Jonathan insisted. "Eventually. When you're ready."

She got huffy, but she was also kind of smiling a bit. "This would be easier if you weren't so fucking _nice_ all the time."

Jonathan laughed and took Charlie's bag when she passed it to him.

~*~

Robin pulled up outside the address Steve had given her and took a deep breath. She could totally do this. It was just a couple of days while she got her move figured out. Steve talked about Charlie like she'd hung the moon, so it wasn't like meeting her would be that bad, right?

The car behind Robin's honked so she moved forward and circled the block until she found a parking spot. Okay. She could do this.

She got her backpack and her suitcase out of the trunk and went to the front of the building. Yep, it was the right number and everything. And Robin was on time. Steve and the others were expecting her. It wasn't like she had anything to be afraid of. After all, she was a trained federal agent (well, almost; she was close). Robin had shot and killed bad guys before. She could handle a potentially awkward social encounter.

She stepped forward and rang the intercom bell for Steve's apartment. It was Nancy's voice that answered, "Hello?"

"Hey, Nancy! It's Robin. Can I come up?"

"Robin! Hey! Yes, come on in!"

The door buzzed open and Robin got inside and to the stairs before Steve bounded down them and met her. "Robs! You're here!"

"Hi," she said, setting down her suitcase and laughing when he engulfed her in a tight hug. "Nice to see you, too, Steve."

"You've gotta see the new apartment. It's so great," he said, picking up her suitcase without asking.

Well, if he wanted to haul it up the stairs, Robin wasn't going to complain. She followed him up to the second floor and through a door on the right. Steve went in, taking her suitcase directly to the far end of the living room. Robin was a little relieved to see only Nancy and Jonathan in the room. Nancy stood near the door, pulling Robin into a hug, while Jonathan stood up next to the papers strewn across the table, giving Robin a wave.

"Hey, Charlie," Steve called back down the hallway next to the kitchen. "Come meet Robin!"

Nancy closed the door behind Robin, so she moved further into the apartment, trying to actually notice it so she could tell Steve how good he'd done at picking out a place to live. It was pretty nice, actually. The windows faced another building, but there was a nice amount of daylight coming through them. The kitchen looked small, but functional and clean. And the living room was big enough for the guys’ futon from the year before, their TV, Jonathan’s stereo, and an actual kitchen table this year, rather than a folding card table.

It looked like a home.

Steve grabbed Robin in another hug before turning her around and saying, "This is Charlie."

Robin followed Steve's line of sight over to the figure standing at the entrance to the hallway. She was about Robin's height with short-ish wavy brown hair and she was wearing a Runaways t-shirt and her eye make-up was a little dark, and Robin's heart just about stopped when she actually looked at Charlie's face.

_Oh, no. She's hot_!

"Hey," Charlie said with a muted wave.

It took Robin a few tries before she was able to wave back, saying, "Um, yeah. Hi. Nice to meet you."

"You hungry?" Steve asked Robin, his arm still resting on her shoulders. "There's a taco place down the street we could grab lunch."

"I have the classifieds from this morning so we can start on the apartment search," Nancy said, brushing past Charlie to go into the hallway. 

Robin watched as Charlie looked up like someone had said something. Oh, she was looking over at Jonathan. "No, that's okay," she said to him.

"No, come with us," Jonathan insisted, stepping closer to Steve and Robin. "Don't try to tell me you're not hungry."

Charlie made a sour face at Jonathan, but ultimately rolled her eyes and said, "Fine. I’ll get my stuff." She went back down the hallway to the second door.

While Charlie was gone, Robin couldn't help but take a second to give Steve a betrayed look.

"What?" he asked, completely oblivious.

Jonathan, guessing by the little smile on his face, was not so oblivious.

Robin pointed her finger at Jonathan and hissed, "Don't you dare tell her!"

"Tell her what?" Steve asked.

"I won't," Jonathan promised, holding up his hands. He was still smiling, though.

Frowning, Robin told Jonathan, "It's not like I can help it!"

"I didn't say anything."

"What's…?" Steve asked, but Nancy and Charlie came back into the room and Robin glared at him to zip it.

As they walked down the street toward the restaurant, Robin got Steve to hang back. She hissed at him, "A little warning would have been nice."

"Warning about what?" Steve asked, looking genuinely confused.

"That Charlie's insanely hot!" Robin told him. "I can't sleep in the same house as her! I'll completely embarrass myself!"

Steve furrowed his brows at her. "What are you talking about? Charlie's _not_ hot. I mean, yeah she's kind of pretty, but–"

"Are you _blind_?" Robin cried. "She looks like a freaking model!"

Steve stopped and looked at Robin like she'd grown an extra head. "You're seriously not going to stay at my place, for _free_ because you can't handle being around a pretty girl? Robs, she's like _super_ awkward and normal and everything. I promise, this freak out is _way_ out of proportion."

"Oh my god," Robin said, searching Steve's face. "You don't see it, do you?"

"Obviously I don't," Steve replied. Sighing, he looked away from her. "Can we please just go eat? I really want you to get along with her, Robin. You're both really important to me."

"Yeah, okay," Robin agreed without really thinking it through. But if this was important to Steve, she supposed she owed it to him to give it a genuine shot. "Okay."

"You'll be cool."

With a snort of a laugh, Robin said, "Have you met me? I'm not cool. But I'll try to be normal. You know, civil."

"That's pretty cool if you ask me," he said with a bright smile. Tugging on her hand, he said, "Come on. Let's go catch up!"


	3. Refuge

When the alarm went off, Nancy’s groan of protest was accompanied by two more groans. “It’s too early,” Jonathan muttered in her ear. 

It really, really was, but Nancy forced herself to get out of bed. She pulled on underwear and one of the boys’ shirts, stopped at the bathroom, then stumbled into the kitchen. She made it all the way through the ritual of getting the coffee started before footsteps followed her into the kitchen.

Nancy expected Jonathan’s arms to wind around her waist, and when they didn’t, Nancy looked over her shoulder. It was Charlie reaching up into the cupboard and lifting down several mugs. 

“Good morning,” Nancy said in greeting, keeping her voice low because Robin was still asleep on the couch. “Did my alarm wake you?”

“Yeah,” she said turning and giving Nancy the green mug. “But it’s okay. I have an interview this morning.”

“Oh? Where at?”

"Just the restaurant Steve's been working at," she said with a shrug. "I know the work, at least. It'll be easy enough to do while I'm trying to figure out what comes next."

Nodding, Nancy said, "Yeah, that sounds like a good plan." She leaned against the counter next to Charlie. Then curiosity got the better of her. "When you were little, what did you want to grow up to be?"

"Lots of things," Charlie told her, shrugging. "A musician, maybe a writer. For a while when I was really little, I wanted to be a lumberjack."

Nancy chuckled, noticing that the coffee maker had stopped. She turned and started pouring it into the mugs, saying, "When I was little, I wanted to be a ballerina."

"Yeah?" Charlie asked, taking the mug Nancy handed her, then reaching down another when Nancy gestured for it. "Did you do ballet?"

Nancy nodded. "Until I was fourteen."

"What happened?" Charlie asked, watching as Nancy poured half a third mug of coffee, then went to the refrigerator for the milk.

Shrugging, Nancy said, "It became clear that I was going to have to choose either ballet or doing well in school. I liked ballet a lot, but I didn't like it enough to risk my whole future on never getting a career-ending injury. So, I chose school." 

Nancy filled the rest of the half-full mug with milk, then put a splash into the coffee in her mug.

"Very pragmatic of you," Charlie said, taking the milk jug and pouring a little into her coffee before putting it back in the fridge. "Do you regret giving it up?"

Nancy thought about this for a moment before shaking her head. "No. I don't. I also don't regret spending so much of my time doing ballet. It taught me how to be perseverant and tough."

Shaking her head, Charlie said, "I've never been able to focus on any one thing for very long."

"Then you probably know how to do a lot more different things than I do," Nancy said, picking up Steve's coffee and handing it to him as he came into the kitchen.

"Thanks, babe," he said, taking it and kissing Nancy's cheek. He was wearing sweats and a t-shirt and his running shoes. "You almost ready to go?"

"Almost. Just have to throw on my running clothes," she told him, giving Charlie a smile and squeezing her shoulder as she left the kitchen, coffee in hand. 

~*~

"Hey," said Sullivan, the kitchen manager, stopping Steve near the end of the dinner service. "Your cousin's pretty good. She handled that table of executives like a pro."

"Told you she had experience," Steve said, wiping his brow on the sleeve of his shirt.

"It's funny," he said, checking dishes off on a ticket and loading them onto Steve's tray. "She doesn't look much like you."

"She's more like a cousin-in-law," Steve said, nodding toward the tray. "This mine for Fifteen?"

"You got it."

When Steve passed Charlie on his way back into the dining room, he winked at her. "Doin' good, Everly."

"Get fucked," she said with a sweet smile.

Steve grinned back at her. In a low voice he said. "Funny you should say that, because last night, your _dad–_ "

"Oh my god!" she cried, all but cackling with laughter. "Get out of here!"

Later, after service ended, Steve sat across the bar from Charlie and asked, "So? How'd you do?"

She grinned at him. "Made my share of this month's rent."

"No fucking way," Steve said, waving as two of the line chefts left. "In _one_ night?"

"Those execs ran a huge bill," she told him. "And they stood no chance against my charm."

"Nice," he said, offering his hand for a high five. "Can I escort you home, oh charming one?"

"Don't be a dipshit," she said, giving him the high-five. "But yes. I'm still not quite sure where to catch the train."

"I gotcha covered, Charlie," he said, grabbing his coat from the rack in the kitchen. "No worries."

~*~

"You're sure this is going to be okay?" Max asked Dustin as she found an empty parking spot on the street and pulled into it.

"It's got to be," Dustin told her, looking over his shoulder at Mike, who had Lucas' head in his lap. "You've been here before, right?"

"Yeah. I helped them move in," Mike said. He shook Lucas' shoulder to wake him up. "Come on, dude. Let's go inside."

When Mike opened the door and the lights came on, they illuminated Lucas' swollen eye and cut lip. Dustin winced at the sight, then opened his own door, getting out onto the street. He grabbed the bags of supplies he'd hastily packed into the car when Max called him. Putting one bag on his back, Dustin handed the other to Max while Mike helped Lucas out of the car.

They followed Mike silently around the corner and up to the front door of the building. Mike pressed the buzzer to Steve's apartment for two minutes straight before he got an answer.

"Do you have any idea what time it is, asshole?"

"Nancy, it's Mike," he said. "It's an emergency."

"Shit."

The door buzzed open and Dustin grabbed it, holding it for the others to go through. Lucas had made it halfway up the first flight of stairs with Max and Mike helping him before Steve came and met them. Steve was just wearing sweats and a t-shirt, and his hair was a mess. Dustin felt bad for waking him up, but where else were they supposed to go?

"What happened?" Steve asked in a low voice, taking over from Max and nodding her up the stairs, where Nancy and Robin were both waiting.

"It's my fault," Max said, letting Nancy pull her into a hug and usher her inside. Dustin followed Lucas, Mike, and Steve up the stairs. When Robin held out her arms to him, Dustin collapsed into her, taking the hug that was offered.

"Not...your fault," Lucas insisted, sitting down on the couch when Steve directed him there. 

"Who did this?" Steve demanded, looking to Dustin when Max looked away.

"Her dad," Dustin said.

" _Step_ -dad," Max corrected him as Nancy came over with a bag of frozen peas that she wrapped in a dish cloth.

"Stupid," Lucas said, taking the ice from Nancy with a grateful nod. He pressed it to his swollen eye. "Shouldn't 've been there."

Max scoffed and said, "I _asked_ you to be there." She sat down next to Lucas and put her hand on his knee.

"Why did you guys drive all the way here?" Robin asked, and Dustin noticed Jonathan standing back in the hallway with a girl Dustin didn't know – Charlie, he guessed.

"They came to my house first," Mike said, hugging Nancy, "but Mr. Hargrove followed them. He said he was going to kill Lucas if he found him."

"This was the only safe place we could think of that Mr. Hargrove didn't know about," Dustin told the others.

"Jesus," Steve said, pulling Dustin close and hugging him before messing up his hair. Dustin pushed at Steve's hand, but he also found himself smiling.

"Are Mom and Dad okay?" Nancy asked.

Mike nodded. "Yeah. Honestly, I'm more worried about Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair."

"Fuck," Lucas muttered. "And Erica."

"What do you think he'll do?" Robin asked.

Max shrugged.

"What is he even that mad about?" Steve asked, "You weren't where you were supposed to be?"

Max gave Lucas another look before admitting, "He caught us in bed together."

"Naked," Lucas added, wincing and moving the frozen peas to his jaw.

"He was _supposed_ to be gone until tomorrow," Max said, crossing her arms and frowning. "If she doesn't divorce him after this, I swear, I'm divorcing _her_."

Robin sat down at the table, asking, "Why didn't you call the cops?"

Lucas sighed. "I _may_ have hit him back a couple times."

"I kicked him in the balls," Max added.

Dustin was so tired. This wasn't even monster shit or Russian spy shit. It was just Max's dad being a racist asshole. Dustin lowered himself to the floor near the couch, looking up at the others. "Any ideas what we do now?"

Nancy sighed, pressing her fingers to her temples. "We can't exactly do much in the middle of the night. Why don't we try to get some rest? We'll figure out what comes next in the morning."

"Is there even enough room for everyone?" Mike asked, waving toward the hallway. "Hey, Charlie."

"Uncle Mike," Charlie replied with a slight smirk.

Mike went just about apoplectic, which was kind of funny to see. It helped lighten the mood of the whole room.

Then Charlie said, "My bed is big enough for two, Robin. If you want someplace to crash."

Dustin might have been imagining things, but he was pretty sure Robin went bright red as she nodded and said, "Um, yeah. Sure. If you're offering."

Charlie disappeared down the hallway. When Robin didn't move, Steve scoffed, picked up the pillow that was on the couch, and pushed it into Robin's hands. "Go."

In a small voice, Robin asked, "Are you sure?"

"Just go," Nancy said, taking Robin by the shoulders and directing her toward the hallway. "Try to get some more sleep."

"Uh-huh," Robin said. 

Jonathan came into the room with a couple of sleeping bags. "Wanna grab those extra blankets and pillows from the top of the closet, baby?"

Dustin wasn't sure who Jonathan was talking to, but Steve was the one who moved, saying, "Yeah, sure."

Huh. Dustin wasn't sure he'd ever heard Jonathan or Steve use pet names for each other. Then again, he'd never crashed their apartment in the middle of the night either.

Nancy and Max tended to the wounds on Lucas' face, giving him a couple of band-aids and some painkillers.

And then it was three-thirty on a Sunday morning and Dustin was lying next to Mike on Mike's sister's living room floor, a throw pillow under his head and a sleeping bag wrapped around his body. Lucas and Max were on the couch, which was actually a futon that unfolded flat, snuggled together. Steve and the others went back to bed, too.

"I can't believe how fucked up this is," Dustin whispered over to Mike.

"Yeah," Mike whispered back. "We have to do something. Scare Mr. Hargrove away so he leaves them alone."

"Or make sure he gets arrested," Dustin said. "Is it only entrapment if it's the cops who entice you into committing a crime?"

"I think so," Mike replied. "We could check with Hopper." Then Mike reached over and patted Dustin's shoulder. "We'll think about it in the morning. Try to get some sleep."

~*~

"Thanks again," Robin said as Charlie pulled her pillow to one side of the bed, making room for Robin. "I could sleep on the floor or something, if it would make you more comfortable."

"You being quiet would make me more comfortable," Charlie grumbled, collapsing onto the bed and closing her eyes. 

"But…" Robin felt like she couldn't, in good conscience, take the spot Charlie was offering. Not without disclosing certain … details. "There's something I have to tell you."

Charlie sighed and opened her eyes, looking over at Robin. "Is it something that can wait until morning?"

Robin shook her head.

"Fine," Charlie said, sitting up and making a gesture that Robin interpreted as, "Let's get this over with already."

Robin had to take a couple of deep breaths before she could get it out. "I'm… I'm gay."

"And I'm tired," Charlie said, closing her eyes and resting her cheek on one hand. "Just lay down and go to sleep. Please?"

"Oh," Robin said, confused as to why Charlie wasn't making a bigger deal out of this. Did she not hear Robin? Did she not understand? "It doesn't bother you? Sharing a bed with a … a lesbian?"

Charlie flopped back down onto her pillow and reached for the light. "Only if she can't shut up while I'm trying to sleep." She turned the light off and settled into the bed.

That's when Robin realized something. "You have abilities. Like Jonathan."

"That's what they tell me."

Putting her pillow down on the bed, Robin sat next to it. "You already knew."

"Mm-hm."

Robin gave a surprised chuckle. "Okay."

She laid down on the bed and carefully pulled one of the blankets over herself. This was fine. This was normal. Totally normal. Just sleeping in a bed next to a really pretty girl. Yeah, _that_ was normal.

And totally wasn't something she'd only ever done with a girlfriend before. 

The one girlfriend she'd ever had.

Robin didn't usually miss Cathy too much. She'd never really felt _settled_ enough in the relationship to feel too brokenhearted when it ended. At least not after she'd crashed Steve and Jonathan's place, getting them to cheer her up with pep talks and pizza and horrible movies. Robin could tell that what she and Cathy had wasn't anything like what Steve and Jonathan had with each other. So, she let it go. Decided that the past was the past and she needed to move on.

Except Robin was pretty sure that there weren't any other lesbians in Hawkins. Maybe in all of Indiana. (No, she knew that was just her flair for the dramatic talking, there had to be at least a few). But now Robin was living in Chicago. There had to be more girls who liked girls here.

Not _literally_ here, though. That was just wishful thinking.

But Steve had taken her on a walk through the neighborhood earlier in the week and had shown her the bars he’d heard were gay bars. And the one that was reportedly a whole bar, just for lesbians. Robin’s 21st birthday wasn’t until June, but hell. That was something to look forward to.

She and Steve still had plans to go to that community center too. Hopefully before Robin started her new job a week from Monday. 

Jesus, she still had a lot of regulations to learn before then. Hopefully this trouble with Dustin’s friends wouldn’t take too much time. It wasn’t monsters or spies, so that gave Robin hope. Maybe she could call in some favors with the local LEOs back in Hawkins. Get them to help Lucas get a restraining order or something. 

Beside Robin, Charlie _growled_ , and said, “Jesus, Robin! Your brain is like hamsters, running around on their little wheels. Just _constantly_.”

“Oh, shit. Can you tell what I’m thinking?” Robin asked her. _God_ , _I hope not_!

“No,” Charlie admitted, turning toward her in the dark. “Just that you _are_ thinking. A lot. And you’re nervous.”

Robin couldn’t help but apologize. “Sorry. I guess I’m nervous because I haven’t had a sleepover since I… Well, since before I realized I was in love with Tammy Thompson in tenth grade.”

Charlie made an amused sort of noise. “I realized when I was twelve.”

Not wanting to jump to conclusions and end up feeling stupid, Robin asked, “Realized what?”

“I had a crush on one of my friends,” Charlie said, “Bethany Taylor.”

“That’s a girl’s name,” Robin said dumbly.

“She had really pretty hair. Like, Barbie-blonde.”

Robin realized out loud, “She _was_ a girl.”

“I couldn’t handle it,” Charlie admitted. “During art class, I dumped a thing of green paint on her hair. It took a good two weeks for it to wash all the way out. I got suspended.”

Robin laughed. “Something tells me that was not an effective flirting technique.”

“No,” Charlie said with a quiet laugh. “Pretty sure she still hates me. Always ratted me out for smoking behind the gym.”

Robin gave a little gasp of horror. “You weren’t a _bully_ , were you?”

Turning sharply toward Robin, she cried, “No!” 

“You weren’t one of the cool kids?” Robin asked teasingly.

“Definitely not. I only had a couple friends in high school.”

“Let me guess,” Robin said, thinking through what she knew about Charlie. “You hung out with the poetry geeks.”

“Nah,” Charlie told her. “My friends were the stoners. They were the only kids calm enough to be around for more than ten minutes.”

“I smoked once,” Robin admitted. “I had a panic attack.”

Charlie _giggled_ and it was such an unexpected sound that Robin found herself giggling too.

“Same thing... happened to me,” Charlie said between little fits of soft laughter. “I could hear _everything_. It was so scary.”

Robin laughed again. Then she looked over at Charlie, feeling lucky that she’d been allowed past whatever bad-mood wall that had been up earlier. Trying to control her giggles, Robin said, “Sorry. You wanted to sleep.”

“Oh, my god, yes,” Charlie replied, but she didn’t turn away or anything. “You’re less nervous now. Maybe if we just close our eyes and don’t say anything, it’ll happen. I’ll finally fall back asleep.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Robin replied. She shifted around and got comfortable. She closed her eyes. She tried to think calm thoughts, to tame the hamsters and keep them off their wheels, as it were. 

Ten minutes later, Robin realized that Charlie’s soft breaths were so even and slow that she had to be asleep. Charlie was _sleeping_ right in front of Robin! 

Just in case having another freak out was going to wake Charlie up or something, Robin stopped herself before she started. She turned away from Charlie, mostly to keep herself from opening her eyes and trying to see Charlie’s face in the dark. 

Robin kept her eyes closed for a long time, and waited for sleep to arrive.

~*~

Looking in the mirror, El made a final few adjustments to her make up before turning to face Will. _Good?_ she asked him.

Will looked her over and nodded.  _Really scary. What about mine?_

El took in the way Will had covered his skin with a pale green paint, except for around his eyes, which were dark black, and the bright red dribbling from one corner of his mouth. Smiling, El told him,  _Yeah. Terrifying!_

Will laughed. _Mr. Hargrove isn't going to know what hit him_.

"Are you guys ready?" Mike asked from the bathroom door, dressed in his own tattered costume and face make up.

"Ready," El agreed, wishing she could kiss Mike without messing up his costume.

_ Just a couple hours _ , Will assured her, then he asked Mike, "Does Erica still have eyes on Mr. Hargrove?"

Holding up his radio, Mike said, "Yeah, he's still at the bowling alley. League play is supposed to end at five to make way for the Halloween party."

Will looked at his watch. "Shit. We should go."

El made sure she had everything she needed, then followed Mike and Will down to the Wheelers' front door. Mike called out, "Mom! We're going to Dustin's party now!"

Karen appeared from the kitchen, startling a little when she saw them. "Oh, my god! You guys look so scary!"

Mike huffed. "Dustin's. We'll be back by one."

"Midnight," Karen insisted. "And I don't want any of you drinking. Do you hear me?"

El nodded, and Mike said, "Don't worry, mom. We're not stupid."

_ Not like Mr. Hargrove _ , Will added, making El laugh. 

"Happy Halloween, Mrs. Wheeler!" Will called as they left the house. 

El drove – since they were using the car she shared with Will – and they headed to meet the others down the street from Max's house. As soon as El saw Max, she parked the car and got out, running to her. "Max!"

"Wow!" Max said, letting El hug her. "You did a great job on the make up."

"Thanks." El said, feeling her cheeks get a little hot. Then she squeezed Max's hands and asked, "How are you doing?"

"This week has sucked pretty bad," Max admitted before smiling over at Lucas. "But the Sinclairs have been really great."

"Has your dad tried anything else since Saturday?" she asked Max, relieved when Max shook her head.

"I've basically only been to the house to pick up a few things while he's at work," Max said. 

Will asked, "You managed to get your mom out of the house for tonight, though. Right?"

Max smiled over at Dustin. "Yeah. She and Mrs. Henderson are greeting trick-or-treaters over at Dustin's house."

"I think they're gonna be good friends," Dustin added, turning to face the others. "I mean, you should've seen the way Mrs. Hargrove was gushing over Twos. Instantly in my mom's good graces."

Lucas' radio crackled to life, his sister saying, "You've got incoming, losers."

With a sigh, Lucas pressed the button and replied, "Roger that." Then he turned to Will and said, "She's not even thirteen yet and she's already running the middle school. It's horrible."

"Yeah, I wouldn't know anything about horrible sisters," Will replied, putting his arm around El's shoulders, making her smile. 

Darkly, Mike said, "I would."

El laughed, because Nancy was great, really. She'd seen how much Mike had missed her over the summer, and how he really _didn't_ think she was horrible.

"Let's get ready," El told the others, taking Mike's hand and Will's as they went into the house.

Ten minutes later, Neil Hargrove came home to a dark and seemingly-empty house. He muttered as he turned on the lights and hung up his jacket. When he moved toward the kitchen, El gently locked the front door so he would be slowed down if he tried to bolt. Then she nodded, Mike gave the signal with his flashlight, and Dustin killed the power.

"What the…" Neil said, flipping the kitchen light switch on and off a few times.

El opened the door to Billy's old room, making it creak on its hinges. 

"Who's there?" Mr. Hargrove demanded. He rummaged around in the kitchen drawers for a moment before coming back with a flashlight. 

When Mr. Hargrove got close to Billy's room, El killed his flashlight too.

Max's footsteps ran the long way around the house, through the kitchen and dining room. Mike slammed Billy's old bedroom door, waiting on the other side of the room from El and Will. El could feel the way Mr. Hargrove was starting to get scared, and the way he hid that fear under an angry growl. "Who the fuck is here, damn it?"

He barged into Billy's room, throwing open the shades and letting in light from the street. Max slipped into the room with the rest of them, standing in the light from the street and closing the door behind her. "You shouldn't have done that."

Mr. Hargrove jumped a little before whirling around to face Max. "You," he said with a relieved sigh. "Just what do you think you're playing at? Is this some sort of Halloween prank?"

"You shouldn't have threatened to kill Lucas," Max insisted. "You shouldn't have hit him."

Taking a few threatening steps toward Max, Mr. Hargrove said, "So, what? I should've just let that hooligan defile you? Maxine, it's my job to protect you from monsters."

Max laughed, and the sound made goosebumps spring up on El's arms. "Lucas is one of the best people I've ever met. But if you want monsters, I'll give you monsters."

El, Will, and Mike all stepped out of the shadows, El and Will holding hands. Will had a supercomm in his hand, the button depressed so the others could hear what was going on. 

Mr. Hargrove jumped, his eyes wide with fright. "Oh, Jesus!" Then he turned angry again. "God damn it. This _is_ a stupid Halloween prank." He took another step in Max's direction, but she held up a hand and El took that as her cue to block Mr. Hargrove from going any further.

"Wrong," Max told him, clenching her hand into a fist. El slowly squeezed the air out of Mr. Hargrove's lungs. "This isn't a prank, _Neil_. If you don't get out of our lives now, _tonight_ …"

From outside, Lucas pounded on the window once, very loudly. Max released her fist, so El let Mr. Hargrove breathe again. He took in a gasping breath.

Then Max made a circle in the air. Using the skill that they'd developed over the past several months, El and Will opened a window to the Upside Down. It was a portal, like the one they'd retrieved Jonathan through, but instead of going to a bubble dimension in the past, it went to the Upside Down. On the other side was another version of Billy's bedroom, cold and rotting, covered in nasty black vines.

Max took a step closer to Mr. Hargrove, and Mike grabbed him, forcing his arms behind his back and pushing him (with El's help) toward the portal. Max smiled. "Because if you don't leave…?"

Lucas pounded hard on the window again, making Mr. Hargrove jump. Max and Mike pushed Mr. Hargrove's head through the portal. 

Shouting to make sure she could hear him on the other side, Max told her stepdad, "If you don't leave, I will send you straight to hell!"

Mr. Hargrove took a few coughing, gagging breaths, and then he screamed. Mike and Max pulled him back through, throwing him to the floor, and El let the portal dissolve. Mike leaned down over Mr. Hargrove and said, "Think about it."

All four of them left the room, Max slamming the door behind her. They left the house, meeting up with Lucas and Dustin out front. Together, all six of them walked away from Max's house, carefully silent so Mr. Hargrove wouldn't hear them celebrating and ruin the effect.

Softly, El told Max, "I'm pretty sure he'll be gone by morning."

Max pressed a hand to her mouth and giggled. "I'm pretty sure you're right."


	4. In a Name

**_ November 1987 _ **

“Hey, Robs?” Steve asked, sitting down on the couch next to her. “Can I talk to you about something?”

Looking up from her reading, she said, “Yeah, sure. Of course.” Putting her feet in his lap, she asked, “What do you want to talk about?”

He couldn’t quite look up at her, but he made himself get out the words he’d been thinking about since Nancy and Jonathan had bought him the ring hanging over his heart. “I’ve been thinking about changing my name. Like, my last name.”

“Yeah?” she asked gently, prodding him in the ribs with her toe. “How come?”

“It just reminds me of my dad,” Steve said with a shrug. “Every time I have to say it or sign it, it feels like a name that belongs to someone else.”

Robin nodded. Then she asked, “What would you change it to?”

Steve lifted the chain out from under his shirt, wrapping his fingers around the ring. Then he admitted, “Byers.”

“Oh my god,” she said, shifting so she was close enough to wrap her arms around his arm.

Not quite sure what Robin meant by that, he asked, “What?”

“That’s the cutest shit I’ve ever heard!” Robin grinned and giggled a bit. “You wanna _marry_ Jonathan. You want to have his babies!”

“Yeah, that’s part of it,” Steve said, flicking Robin on the forehead to get her to quit being obnoxious. 

Robin frowned and rubbed her forehead. “What’s the other part?”

“The other part is that…” Steve sighed. “I don’t know. El gets to use it, and Jenny, and Hop. And I was part of the family _first_. They adopted me too, but I keep feeling like… like…” He couldn't quite find the right words.

“Like without the name, it’s not real?” Robin asked him, and Steve nodded. That was it, exactly.

He wiped his cheek on the shoulder of his shirt. “They could decide I’m not worth it anymore. Like my dad did.”

“Hey,” Robin said. “You had your fuckface dad’s name when he kicked you out or whatever. Your name’s not gonna make a difference. Your family’s going to love you, regardless. I’m sure. Forever.”

“Yeah, probably,” Steve said with a sigh, remembering the time Joyce had said just that. “I still would feel better if I… If I changed it.”

Robbin nodded, putting her arms around Steve and hugging him. “I think maybe you should ask Jonathan first. And Joyce, too. It’s a big change to make without talking it over with them.”

“Yeah,” he admitted grudgingly. “Yeah, you’re right.” He looked over at Robin. “But if all that goes well, you know government stuff, right? Would you help me, like, fill out the right forms and everything?”

Nodding and hugging Steve tighter, she said, “Sure. Of course I’ll help, dingus. You’re my best friend.”

“You’re mine, too,” Steve insisted. “Thanks, Robs.”

“Welcome.”

~*~

“So, yeah,” Nancy said, pulling her hat further down onto her head and shivering in the cold November air. “This is Northwestern.”

“It’s really pretty,” Charlie said, rubbing her hands together. “Is Chicago always this cold?”

Laughing, Nancy said, “Come on, we have enough time to grab some coffee before my next class.”

“I still don’t know why I’m here,” Charlie told her, walking side-by-side with Nancy. “I’m not even sure I want to go back to school. Much less _this_ school.”

Nancy assured her, “I just want you to know all your options, okay? My next lecture is one of my journalism core classes. It’s really interesting, and probably nothing like what you studied before in high school. I think you'll like it.”

Charlie rolled her eyes. “You’re lucky I was bored and had nothing else to do today.”

Nancy grinned and laced her left arm through Charlie’s right one. “Very lucky,” she agreed. As they walked, Nancy said, "Tell me more about what you were like as a kid."

Shrugging, Charlie said, "I don't know. I was quiet. Never had too many friends."

"What did you do for fun?"

"Listened to music." Charlie cupped her hands around her mouth and blew hot air onto them. "Read books. Did both at the same time a lot." She looked over at Nancy for a moment before looking down again and admitting, "Used to play piano."

Nancy felt delighted at being given this information. "Really?"

"Yeah. My parents put me in lessons when I was a kid." She shuffled through the snow, kicking at it. “They said it helped with my attitude problem.”

Her heart hurting for Charlie, Nancy told her, “My parents said the same thing about me and ballet. _I_ never thought I had an attitude problem, though. _They_ were always the ones being stupid.”

Charlie laughed and shook her head.

As they got close to the building with the coffee stand inside, Nancy asked, “Do you still play?”

“Not really. Not since I moved out of my parents’ place when I got married.”

“Someday, when we have the time it deserves, I want to hear all about your ex,” Nancy said. 

“Why?” Charlie asked her, following Nancy through the doors into the building. “It was a dumb thing I did, it’s over now. The end.”

Nancy sighed and gave Charlie a look as they joined the line for the coffee window. “Even if it was a mistake, getting married is a big deal. He must have been important to you at one point, but I don’t even know his name.”

“His name is Sean,” she said, looking down at her scarf. “I think he lives in LA now. That’s what his mom said the last time she cornered me for a chat.”

Nancy couldn’t help it. She wrapped her arms around Charlie and hugged her. “I’m sorry you went through something that hard.”

Charlie huffed and didn’t respond, but when Nancy pulled back, she had a tiny smile on her face. 

~*~

“So,” said Jonathan’s academic advisor, Mrs. MacCarthy, “since we met last year, have you given any more thought to how you want to use your photography degree?”

“I want to make art,” Jonathan told her, thinking about those long months in Cedarville where he kept seeing things he needed to shoot and not having a camera, besides the crappy one Tony sometimes leant him. “But I don’t want to make my living as an artist. I think I want to get back into photojournalism.”

“Back into…” she said, scanning her notes. “Oh! The internship you had during high school.”

“Yeah,” Jonathan said, hoping she wouldn’t ask about how that internship ended. “I’m assuming I should join the student paper or something.”

“Well,” she said, pulling out the course catalog. “You might want to think about minoring in journalism. There’s a set of core classes you could take.” She paused, looking over his records. “Yeah, your grades in composition are certainly high enough to qualify.” Opening the catalog, she flipped to one of the pages. “Working on the paper itself is an elective that fills up quickly. I’ll have to check with their department’s advisor, but I’m fairly certain you’ll have to take the introductory class and get a good grade before they’ll allow you to declare your minor.”

“What happens once I declare it?”

“You’ll get priority registration for all the journalism classes, including the paper.”

Jonathan nodded. “Sure. Okay, let’s figure out how to make that work.”

Mrs. MacCarthy smiled. “Okay, great!”

~*~

As Robin brought the last box up to her new apartment, she looked around and smiled. “Hey, thanks, everyone!”

“You’re welcome,” Steve said, taking the soda Jonathan passed him and cracking it open.

“Gimme the keys,” Nancy said to Steve. “The truck is still double parked. Jonathan and I will drop it off at the rental place. Meet you at home?”

“Sure,” Steve said, giving Nancy the keys to the moving truck, watching as she and Jonathan left. The way he pouted for a minute after watching them leave was honestly kind of adorable. And Robin understood. He was afraid of losing them again, even after all this time.

“So,” Charlie said, setting down her own soda can. “Are we unpacking all this shit, or what?” She poked at a box that was labeled “bedroom” and when she realized what box it was, Robin panicked.

“Not that one!” she said, a little too loudly as she went over and picked up the offending box. Nodding at a different stack, she said, “Why don’t we start with the kitchen stuff?”

The intrigued look on Charlie's face didn't exactly lessen Robin's anxiety about that particular box. 

"Oh, that stuff's over here," Steve said, setting down his soda can and opening another box. He pulled out a bunch of mismatched cups. "Where'd you get all this stuff?"

"It's mostly stuff my mom wanted to get rid of," Robin told him, finding another kitchen box and opening it. "I hit the Goodwill in Indianapolis a couple times, too."

Charlie came over the box Robin had, pulling out a bundle of newspaper. She unwrapped it, revealing a glass mug with a Garfield cartoon on it. "Did you get this at Goodwill?"

"No," Robin told her with a grin. "I got that because it's cute."

Wrinkling up her nose, Charlie laughed and set the mug over on the kitchen counter. She looked up at the cupboards above it and asked, "Where do you want everything to go?"

"I don't know," Robin said, joining Charlie at the counter and giving her a nudge with her shoulder. "What would make the most sense? Plates close to the stove? Cups closer to the sink?"

"I'd put the plates closer to the fridge," Charlie said, nudging Robin back with a smile. "Then again, I can't cook for shit, so all my food comes straight out of the fridge."

Robin laughed. "Maybe if you had someone to cook for you, you wouldn't mind your plates being in a better spot."

"Yeah, maybe," Charlie said, looking at Robin for a long moment that made Robin's cheeks feel hot.

Behind them, Steve cleared his throat, making Robin jump a little bit in surprise. Jesus, she'd forgotten about him! This crush was starting to get out of hand.

"I just remembered," Steve said, scratching the side of his head. "I've got a project due on Monday. I should probably go work on that. You guys good unpacking without me?"

"Uh," Robin, looking over at Charlie, who shrugged, her eyes still smiling a little. "Sure." Robin went over to Steve and gave him a hug. "Thanks again. I really appreciate all your help."

"You're welcome," he replied. "Let me know if you need anything else."

"I will."

As Steve left, he leaned close to Charlie and said something in a voice low enough that Robin couldn't quite hear him. Charlie scoffed and pushed him, laughing and saying, "Get out of here, asshole." 

Steve grinned and said, "Later!" as he left. 

And then Robin was alone with Charlie and _desperately_ wanting to know what Steve had said to her. It felt impolite to ask directly. Maybe Robin could get at it in a roundabout sort of way.

“So,” she said, unpacking more of the mugs from their box. “How has it been, living with those guys?”

“The walls are a little too thin,” Charlie said, putting the mugs up on one of the shelves as Robin handed them to her. 

“Yeah, tell me about it. After I stayed with them for a couple nights last year, I started bringing earplugs,” Robin admitted.

Nodding, Charlie chuckled and said, “But it’s been good so far.” She took the Snoopy mug Robin handed her and frowned at it before putting it up. Then she paused, just kind of looking at the counter for a moment. 

“Charlie?”

She gave Robin a tight-lipped smile. “A lot more about my life has started to make sense these past few months. It’s … weird.”

Robin stopped unpacking and leaned against the counter next to Charlie. After a moment, she decided to say, “Living in Hawkins was pretty weird to begin with, before I found out about the Upside Down and all the crazy shit surrounding it. Getting this job helped me tackle it head on, you know? Let me be productive about confronting it. I wonder if you need something like that.”

“No way I could pass the background check to join the FBI,” Charlie told her. 

“No,” Robin said with a slight laugh, telling herself to ask more about that later. “I meant, find some way to use what you know now in a productive manner. Like, helping people somehow.”

“Oh.” Charlie turned around, resting against the counter next to Robin, their shoulders pressed together. Kicking her toe against the ground, she said, “There’s probably a better use of this thing,” she gestured to her head, “than just making sure I get good tips.”

“Wait,” Robin said, looking over at Charlie. “Steve’s been complaining to me _endlessly_ about how you keep earning more than him. You’ve been _cheating_?” She couldn’t help but laugh.

Charlie grinned back at her. “Yeah. I mean, I was always pretty good at anticipating when people needed me to come to the table. Now, I’ve figured out how to be there just as they realize they need something. I don’t even have to be nice to get good tips. I just have to have good timing.”

“That is…” Robin said, “genius! What a way to game the system! Steve’s gonna be so pissed when he finds out!” Furious laughter bubbled up in Robin’s throat, and she had to grab onto Charlie’s arm to keep herself upright. Charlie laughed, too, leaning toward Robin, pressing her temple against Robin’s forehead. 

When Robin got herself under control, she realized just how close Charlie’s face was to her own. God, her _beautiful_ face was just _right there_. Oh, shit. And she could probably tell just how Robin felt about her. 

“Sorry,” Robin said, taking a step back. “Sorry. I’ll just…”

But then Charlie gently caught Robin’s wrist in one of her hands, keeping her from putting more distance between them. “It’s okay, Robin,” Charlie said, her voice soft. “I like you, too.”

“What?” Robin asked, unable to do anything about the way her face reacted to her confusion. “You…?”

Charlie pulled Robin to face her and stepped closer and put her free hand on Robin’s face. 

_ Oh my god _ !

And then Robin was being kissed! Charlie was kissing her and Robin was being kissed!

Robin wasn’t kissing back!

_ Shit _ !

Robin grabbed onto Charlie and held her so she couldn’t get away before Robin finally got her act together and kissed back. The feeling took Robin’s breath away and made her chest clench and her head dizzy, but then! Then, as Charlie pulled back, Robin felt herself smiling. Grinning. 

Charlie liked her back!

And Charlie was smiling back at her and fiddling with some of Robin’s hair and still standing _so close_. “So, um…” Robin said, trying to think of something intelligent to say and failing. “That–that was a thing that happened.”

“Yeah,” Charlie said with a laugh. She looked around the apartment. “Do you want to keep unpacking, or…?”

Robin wasn’t sure what “or” meant, but it sounded a lot more fun than unpacking. “Or,” she said, stealing another kiss from Charlie and being awarded with an amused snort. “Definitely ‘or’...”

~*~

All of Jonathan’s classes the Wednesday before Thanksgiving had been cancelled, so he slept in a few extra hours before getting ready to go. Nancy and Steve had both packed their bags the night before, so after getting up and packing, Jonathan added his to the pile. 

Around ten, Jonathan knocked on Charlie’s door, calling, “Hey! Time to get up! We’re leaving to go pick up Nancy in half an hour!”

Charlie opened her door, looking groggy, but happy. “Hey.”

Raising his eyebrows at her, Jonathan asked,  _Half an hour?_

“I’ll be ready,” she replied. “Already packed.”

Once they were in the car, they drove up to the Northwestern campus, picking up Nancy. Then they stopped at Robin’s place, where Charlie hopped out to go collect Robin. 

While she was gone, Nancy leaned forward and asked Jonathan, “Am I imagining things, or are they…?”

“You’re not imagining things,” Jonathan told her. “Charlie’s been keeping her Robin feelings _extremely_ well shielded from me, but yeah. They’re totally sleeping together.”

Nancy laughed. “Think we should give Robin the if-you-hurt-our-daughter speech?”

Jonathan shrugged. “Honestly, I’m more tempted to give Charlie the if-you-hurt-our-friend speech. She’s dated more people than Robin has.”

Nancy laughed again. “Maybe we should just play it by ear?”

“Or make Steve do it.”

“Or that.”

After Robin got in, sitting behind Charlie, Jonathan drove past the UIC campus to pick up Steve. He tossed his backpack into the now-very-full hatchback, then sat behind Jonathan, with Nancy scooting into the middle seat. Steve reached up and squeezed Jonathan’s shoulder. “Let’s roll, babe.”

When they got far enough out of Chicago that the radio station began to wane, Jonathan pointed Charlie to the glove compartment. “Wanna pick out one of the tapes from in there? Any of them would be good.”

“Or, instead,” Charlie said, picking up her bag from the floorboard and digging out a cassette. “We could listen to the tape I made yesterday.”

“Sure,” Jonathan said with a chuckle. “Did you borrow my stereo to make that?”

“How else would I have made it?”

Shaking his head, Jonathan kept driving. The music was unfamiliar, but good, and Jonathan found himself more than a little proud of Charlie’s musical taste. 

“Yeah, yeah, like you had anything to do with it,” she said out loud.

Jonathan told her, “I played you a lot of records before you were born. _Some_ of it had to stick.”

Charlie turned in her chair to face Nancy, “Did he really?”

Jonathan watched Nancy nod in the rear view mirror. Then in a conspiratorial whisper, Nancy said, “Whenever he was out of the house, I played you Elvis. All day, every day.”

Steve and Charlie both laughed. 

“Aw, Nance!” Jonathan complained. “We had records of some of the best blues musicians of all time, and you had to play her _Elvis_?”

“It was my thinking music!” Nancy said, making Robin laugh. “And Charlie _liked_ it!”

Jonathan couldn’t help it. He laughed too. 

Two hours south of Chicago, they stopped for lunch, squeezing into a booth meant for four. Nancy was practically sitting on Jonathan’s lap, sandwiched between him and Steve, but it didn’t bother Jonathan at all. He stole a bunch of Nancy’s fries and let her eat half his soup, and both of them helped Steve with his burger. At the end of the meal, they split a piece of chocolate cake between the three of them. 

Jonathan watched Charlie and Robin pretend like they didn't know each other as well as they obviously did. It was actually kind of adorable, the way they looked away from each other, even though Jonathan was sure they were holding hands under the table. 

When they finished the drive and got to the house, it was mid afternoon and no one else was home yet. Steve suggested they go over to the high school and ambush El and Will at their car, so that’s what they did. 

Except, as soon as they pulled into the parking lot, Robin and Nancy both tensed up. 

“What’s going on?” Charlie asked, sitting between the two of them in the back seat. 

“Shit, I forgot,” Jonathan said, turning to look at them. “The only time you guys were here was when Nine had just attacked us at the hospital.”

“Nine,” Charlie said, looking between Jonathan and Nancy. “He was the dream walker guy, right?”

“Right,” Jonathan told her. “Long gone.”

“I see their wagon,” Steve said, pulling into a parking spot near the back of the lot. “Are we staying, or do you guys wanna do something else?”

"Let's stay," Nancy said, checking with Robin, who nodded. "It's only a few minutes before class is over."

"Hey," Robin said, nodding at Nancy, "Mike's coming for Thanksgiving, right?"

"Yeah," Nancy said. "He's bringing Dustin, but Lucas and Max are going with the Sinclairs to Cincinnati."

Charlie leaned against the twins' station wagon, saying, "My parents want me to go to Arizona for Christmas."

"Can we have you back for New Year's?" Jonathan asked her, then he nodded at Steve. "Is Harriet still planning on throwing a New Year's Eve party for everyone?"

"As far as I know, yes," Steve said, sticking his hands in his pockets. "She's celebrating finally getting an alimony settlement from Fred. Everyone's invited. Except Max's dad. And, you know, Hopper. But he's gonna be on that trip with Joyce, so…"

" _Secret_ trip," Jonathan said. He turned to Robin and explained, "Hop is surprising Joyce with a honeymoon sort of trip after Christmas."

"Anyway," Nancy said, gesturing to Charlie. "If we _can_ have you back for New Year's, it would be nice. You could meet my parents. And Steve's mom."

"Introduce myself as Jonathan's cousin?" Charlie asked, but she didn't seem put out by the idea. "Yeah, I think I can make a case for being back in time for New Year's."

Jonathan nudged Charlie with his elbow. "Fly back a few days after Christmas. I'll pick you up."

Charlie nodded. "Okay."

"Hey!" Will called from across the parking lot, holding up his arms. "What are you doing here?"

"Came to see you losers," Steve called back, hugging El when she ran up and into him. 

Jonathan got to hug Will first, pulling him into a tight embrace. "Jesus," Jonathan said, looking up at his brother. "Did you have another growth spurt?"

"Yes," El said in response, shouldering Will out of the way so she could hug Jonathan. "He's been eating _everything_ in the house."

Jonathan laughed and hugged his sister hello.

~*~

Steve was helping Joyce cut up all the veggies for Thanksgiving dinner when he cleared his throat. “Mom? Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, sweetie,” she replied, taking a pile of chopped celery and putting it in the bowl for the stuffing. “What is it?”

“Would it be okay with you,” he said, putting down his knife and turning to face her, “if I changed my last name? To Byers, I mean. Not just to something random, that would be weird.”

The full weight of his question took a moment to sink in. Steve wanted to change his name to hers. Well, to Jonathan’s, but he was here asking her. Softly, Joyce put her hand on Steve’s arm. She was going to ask him why, but suddenly she knew why. “You’re part of this family. You should have our name if you want it.”

He sagged, letting out a soft breath of relief. “I haven’t asked Jonathan what he thinks yet.”

Joyce tugged on Steve until he turned away from the counter and let her hug him. “You should ask him. It’s kind of a big deal. I don’t know what you guys are thinking about, relationship wise,” she let him go, but tapped at the chain around his neck, “but I did notice this. You guys all have them.”

“Yeah,” Steve said, taking the chain out from under his shirt and showing her the ring threaded onto it. “It’s a promise, they said.”

Joyce was expecting some sort of charm or locket or something. Not _this_. She told herself not to be so surprised. Steve and Jonathan were young, yes, but they’d also been _living_ _together_ for two and a half years. She’d known this was permanent, but to see it right in front of her face?

“That’s a wedding ring, Steven!”

Steve furrowed his brow at her. “Yeah. I know.” He gave her another look. “Oh, shit! Are you freaking out? We weren't going to use them yet.”

"I'm only freaking out a little bit," she said, offering him a nervous smile. "You guys are only twenty years old. I just want you to make _sure_."

Pouting slightly, Steve nodded. He put the ring back under his shirt, then said, "I guess… I guess I just figured since you said…"

Shit. No, where was he going with this? Joyce grabbed Steve by the face making him look her in the eyes. "What did I say?"

"You said I was part of this family," he told her, putting his hands on her wrists. "Even if Jonathan was gone. I figured that meant even if we broke up, too."

Joyce's heart broke. This poor, sweet boy. Who wouldn't want him in their family? "It did," Joyce assured him, making sure he was looking her in the eye and understood. "It does, Steve. You're part of this family. If you want our name too, I am behind you on this. A hundred percent."

Steve nodded and sniffed, looking up like he was trying not to cry. “Thanks, Mom. That … it means a lot.”

“And for what it’s worth,” she added, pulling Steve into a hug, “I have no doubts that you and Jonathan and Nancy are it for each other.”

“Good,” Steve said, hugging her back. “I’m thinking if Jonathan says yes to the whole name change thing...?”

“He will, are you kidding me?” Joyce insisted, stepping back so she could look at him. 

Steve grinned, shaking his head. “Anyway, _if_ he says yes, I’m thinking the next thing I want to do is get Nancy an actual engagement ring.”

Joyce laughed. “Make her a Byers, too?”

“ _Exactly_!” Steve turned back to his cutting board. “I mean, I’m sure it’ll be a few years before we actually get married, but it’ll be something. It’ll mean something.”

“It will,” Joyce agreed, squeezing Steve’s shoulder. She grabbed a few new stalks of celery. “I’m glad you’re taking the time to think through this carefully. It deserves careful thought."

"Yeah, it does."

~*~

Charlie sat at the table between Steve and Robin, watching everyone interact. She’d kind of expected there to be smaller factions that would break off of the larger group, but it never happened. All twelve people in attendance sat around the same cobbled-together table. Everyone contributed to the same conversation, sometimes shouting over each other to be heard.

And now that Charlie knew what to look for, she felt the happiness and love coming off everyone around the table. Things had never been like this in her family. She knew her parents loved her, but it wasn’t the sort of love that meant hugs and jokes and impassioned debates about the best Star Wars character. When the Everly family got together, there was fondness, but not much warmth. It always felt to Charlie like something they did out of a sense of duty, not because they actually liked each other. 

It was impossible to spend more than five minutes with this family without coming to the conclusion that everyone here genuinely _liked_ everyone else. How? How could this many people all like each other? It didn't make sense to her.

When everyone was stuffed, Hopper roped Steve and Robin into doing the dishes with him. Charlie wanted to offer to help too, but she wasn't quite sure how. Nancy disappeared somewhere with El and Jenny, while Will and his friends clomped down the stairs, leaving Charlie at the table, unsure of what to do. She looked across the table at Jonathan, who shrugged and gave her a smile. "Want a cup of coffee or something?"

"Sure," she said, for lack of anything better to do.

"Get one for me, too, honey," Joyce said, moving from the end of the table to sit in Robin's chair next to her. "So, Charlie. Tell me how you're doing."

"I…" she tried to respond, but between the weirdness that was the bath Jonathan's sister had put her in that morning and being completely overwhelmed by the affection just _constantly_ present in this house, Charlie found herself unable to put her feelings into words. "Honestly, I don't know."

"The kids seem to enjoy having you live with them," she said, and Charlie found herself surprised that someone could refer to Jonathan and Nancy as _kids_. Steve she _did_ understand, but the other two seemed so grown-up, especially compared to her. 

She supposed Joyce probably still thought of Jonathan as the little baby he used to be. Charlie got the feeling sometimes that Jonathan thought of _her_ as the baby she used to be. Protective. Parental. Nancy didn't, which Charlie felt grateful for. Nancy's affection was more of a big sister sort of love. Charlie had never had siblings, but she imagined the way Nancy treated her was like that. Actually, now that she was here, watching how Nancy interacted with her brother, Charlie realized that Nancy actually treated her with more care than she showed her brother.

Steve, on the other hand, treated Charlie a lot like he treated Jonathan's younger brother and sisters, all easy affection and teasing jokes. Seeing him interacting with them made something anxious settle in Charlie's chest. Even though she knew she was always reading the emotions of the people around her, Charlie had this thought that Steve was just putting on an act, just being nice to her because Jonathan and Nancy wanted her around. Or just being nice to her because he knew they were going to need her again at some point, and he didn't want to burn his bridges with her. Now Charlie realized that he was just an affectionate person. He didn't seem to think about people in terms of what they could do for him and the people he loved. 

"Living with them has been … interesting," Charlie said to Joyce. 

She laughed, reaching over and putting her hand on Charlie's arm. "Isn't it, though?" Joyce shook her head. "I'm glad Nancy's parents relented and let her live with them this year. God knows it's a losing battle trying to keep them apart." She sighed happily and turned as Jonathan came back into the dining room. "Not that I ever tried all that hard."

“You aided and abetted, Mom,” Jonathan said, setting down two cups of coffee.

Joyce laughed happily, lightly smacking his arm as he went back to the kitchen. 

"Wait, seriously?" Charlie asked, turning the coffee mug closest to her and picking it up. "I've kind of gotten this story in bits and pieces. Steve moved here with you guys, right?"

"Mm-hm," Joyce said as she took a sip of coffee. "He moved in with us after his high school graduation. Honestly, he was such a big help that whole year before he went to college." She looked over her shoulder into the kitchen, where Steve was up to his elbows in soapy water. "I'm not sure how we would have gotten along without him."

Charlie nodded, thinking it seemed to her that Steve was good at _being_ there right when she needed him to be. "He talks about you guys like you adopted him," she said to Joyce, thinking about the way the parents she'd known since she was a baby had _actually_ adopted her. "But he was an adult."

Joyce shrugged. "He joined the family a few years before he became an adult, honestly," she said. "His parents weren't doing a very good job with him. I felt like I _had_ to step in."

"But you already had two kids," Charlie pointed out. "He wasn't your responsibility."

Joyce gave a sad little laugh. "That's something Jonathan's father would have said. He didn't…" Joyce pressed her lips together and tilted her head as she looked at Charlie for a second. "Did Jonathan tell you I was raised by my grandfather?"

Charlie shook her head. "What happened to your parents?"

"They weren't very _capable_ ," she said with a little shrug. "My dad met someone else when he was away at war. He didn't know about me until he came home. Decided he didn't want to be involved. And my mom..." She sighed and took another sip of her coffee. " _Anyway_ , my grandfather did most of the work of raising me. Before he died, I asked him why he bothered. I wasn't his responsibility. Do you know what he told me?"

Charlie shook her head.

"He said," Joyce placed her hand over Charlie's wrist, "a good person is always responsible for taking care of the people in their life. No matter how those people got there."

Charlie felt the corners of her eyes start to burn. She cleared her throat. "He seems like he was a great person."

"He was," Joyce replied, taking her hand back. "Though I wish he would have been around long enough to tell me not to waste so much time trying to take care of Lonnie Byers." She gave a little self-deprecating smile, and Charlie couldn't help but return it with a smile of her own.

"How do you know?" Charlie asked. "Whether someone's going to be worth taking care of or not?"

"You don't," she replied, meeting Charlie's eyes for a long moment. "Not until they show you who they are."

"How long does that take?" Charlie thought about being here, welcome in this house, even though Joyce and her husband (Charlie couldn't tell whether to call him Jim or Hop or Hopper, he seemed to have a lot of names) had only spent a total of about three days with her before now.

Joyce smiled and said, "It depends on the person. Some people show you who they are right away. Others…" She looked back into the kitchen, and Charlie thought she was probably looking at Jim. "Others take a bit to open up." Joyce took a sharp breath and smiled at Charlie. "I guess I'm the kind of person who would rather err on the side of taking care of too many people than too few. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," Charlie said, unable to meet Joyce's eyes, so smiling down at her coffee cup instead. "Yeah, that makes a lot of sense."

~*~

Jonathan was lounging on the downstairs couch, catching up on his reading for class, when Steve came down the stairs and stopped short. “There you are.”

“Here I am,” Jonathan agreed, trying to focus but distracted by Steve’s turbulent emotional state. Watching as Steve came over, Jonathan asked, “What’s going on?”

"I just…" Steve said, bending far enough to put his hand around Jonathan's wrist. "I want to talk to you about something. Something important. Will you come into the bedroom with me?"

"Sure," Jonathan said, putting down his book and getting to his feet. If he couldn't tell how nervous Steve was, Jonathan would have thought this was an excuse to get some alone time. "What is it, Steve?"

Steve sat Jonathan down on the bed, then went over and closed the door. When he came back, he sat next to Jonathan and laced their fingers together. But he didn't say anything.

"Baby?"

Steve smiled a little bit and squeezed Jonathan's hand. "This might sound a little weird."

Jonathan couldn't help but give a soft laugh. "Compared to _what_?"

Rolling his eyes, Steve said, "I mean, it's not exactly the same as what you and Nancy got to have, and I know I have _this_." He took his ring out from under his shirt, looking at it. "But I feel like I need _something_ , and it would mean a lot to me." He looked over at Jonathan. "Mom said it would be okay with her."

Confused, Jonathan said, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Steve furrowed his brow for a second before his face lit up with understanding. "Oh! I skipped a part."

"Yeah," Jonathan said, squeezing Steve's hand. "Why don't we go back a few steps and have you tell me what's going on?"

"Right," Steve said, getting nervous again. Then he took a deep breath and as he let it out, he said, "I want to change my last name to yours."

"Wow," Jonathan said as he processed Steve's words. 

He looked over at Steve and tried to imagine introducing him as "Steve Byers." It was weird. There was still a part of Jonathan's brain that thought of him as "Steve Harrington, that kid from school." Of course, there was a larger part of him that just thought of Steve as Steve. As the man Jonathan loved. As the person whose presence he missed so fiercely while he'd been away that coming back to him felt more like coming home than any other moment in Jonathan's life. Save possibly the first time he'd seen his daughter.

That's what it was. Steve was _family_ to Jonathan, in that way a _spouse_ was family. A husband. It didn't surprise Jonathan that Steve would feel the same way about him. Steve had been looking for a family ever since Jonathan had known him. That's why Steve had moved to Springfield with him, because he needed to be part of a family who loved him, who didn't just see him as an inconvenience, or as a pawn to control.

Yeah, Jonathan could see how taking a new name would mean a lot to Steve, how it could be something he felt like he needed. And, hell, Jonathan _wanted_ to be the person who could give that to him. 

"What are you–" Steve started to say, but Jonathan cut him off with a kiss.

As he pulled back, Jonathan said, "Yes."

"Yes?" Steve asked, meeting Jonathan's eyes, searching his face.

Nodding, Jonathan said, "I think we should run it by Nancy. But yeah, I'd be honored."

Steve smiled brightly, pulling Jonathan into a tight hug. "Holy shit! Thank you, babe."

Jonathan laughed and said, "I have no idea how we're going to explain it to anyone who doesn't know about us, but…" He leaned his head against Steve's. "It would almost be like getting married."

"That's kind of the idea," Steve whispered. "I mean, you and Nancy got to marry each other."

A spike of loneliness went through Steve, making Jonathan's heart hurt sharply. "Baby," he whispered, pulling Steve closer and kissing him again, feeling the way the pet name made Steve's emotions settle down. He put his hands on Steve's face and kissed him again. "I'm yours, okay? And you're mine. Forever."

Steve nodded, sniffling a little, and kissed Jonathan a few more times. "Forever?" 

Jonathan lifted the ring from where it hung on the chain around Steve's neck. "I already promised you forever when I gave you this. Don't doubt it."

Steve's love felt so overwhelmingly deep that Jonathan had to close his eyes and focus on breathing through it. In short order, he found himself back-down on the bed, Steve straddling his waist and kissing him desperately. "Fuck yeah, _forever_ ," he said, smiling into the next kiss he gave Jonathan. 

After a minute, Steve sat back. "I've been thinking."

"About what?" Jonathan asked.

"About you giving me _your_ name," Steve said, his fingers tracing the outline of Jonathan's ring under his shirt. "And then me giving _our_ name to Nancy, probably after graduation."

"That wedding you wanted to be the groom at?" Jonathan asked.

Steve nodded. "I want to give her an engagement ring. Soon. I…" He pushed his hair back, tucking it behind his ears and smiled. "I already started saving up for it."

"Yeah?" Jonathan squeezed Steve's thighs. "Do you want to pick it out yourself, or could I–"

"No, I want you to help," Steve said, leaning forward and kissing Jonathan again. "I want it to be from both of us."

Chuckling, Jonathan nodded. "You know, back then? Before? _She_ proposed to _me_."

"Yeah?" Steve grinned. "Then I suppose it's our turn to propose to her."

"Definitely." Jonathan pulled on Steve's arm until he moved close enough to kiss again. "We should wait until after Christmas, though. We don't want to steal Mom and Hop's thunder."

With a laugh, Steve nodded in agreement. "No! We wouldn't want to do that!"


	5. The Surprise

**_December 1987_ **

"Are you sure everything is set?" Jim asked El, clamping down on the urge to fidget nervously. "She still doesn't know, right?"

"As far as I can tell," El told him with a nod. She reached up and put her hands on his shoulders. "Dad. It's going to be great."

Jim nodded. “Right. Who’s got the flowers, again?”

“Nancy has the flowers,” El reminded him. “Will and Jonathan are getting Mom there. Steve and Charlie and the others are getting the room all set up. It’s _fine_.”

“Fine, sure,” Jim nodded. “I’m still a little weirded out that the only people we invited, besides family, are _your_ friends and _Murray_.”

“Everyone else either thinks you’re dead, or thinks you and mom got married twenty years ago.”

“ _Should’ve_ married her twenty years ago,” Jim grumbled. “Would’ve made more sense than this shitshow.”

El rolled her eyes. “Go put on your suit.”

Jim narrowed his eyes at her. “How’d I let you get this bossy, huh?”

She grinned. “You set the very best example.”

Jim laughed. “Uh-huh. Is that right?”

“Suit. _Now!_ ” El put her hands on her hips and stomped her foot. 

“Okay, okay! I’m going!”

Jim went into the bedroom he shared with Joyce, and opened the closet he also shared with her. He took out the suit he’d bought the week before, claiming to need it for work. It wasn’t a particularly expensive suit or anything. He’d bought it at the department store. What made it special was that he’d paid the department store tailor to fit it properly. 

He hadn’t worn it in front of Joyce yet, and he was hoping it would absolutely knock her socks off. Nothing in their relationship had been formal. Not like this. Not like today was going to be. 

And Jim figured if he was going to do this, he should do it right. He put on the suit pants. He put on the shirt and bow tie that went with it. He put on the jacket and he put on the dress shoes, too. He combed back his hair and made sure his beard was still well-trimmed.

Looking at himself in the long mirror mounted to the back of the bedroom door, Jim smiled. Oh, yeah. He felt confident that this was going to make the right impression. Leaving his room, Jim went out into the living room where El and Jenny were watching TV. 

“Well?” he asked, spreading out his arms to show off. “What do you girls think?”

“Wow,” said El, lighting up and getting to her feet. “Dad!”

Jenny hopped up, too. “Can we go now?”

“Yeah, we should,” Jim told them, taking a look at his watch. “What time are we supposed to be there?”

“Twenty minutes,” El told him with a grimace. To Jenny, she said, “C’mon, bug. Let’s get in Hoppy’s truck.”

Jim wasn’t sure if it was the two and a half years El had spent in high school, or the contrast with her younger sister, but El just seemed so grown-up all of a sudden. She’d be seventeen in spring. Eighteen the spring after that, and looking to go off to school somewhere, probably. 

As Jim drove through the snowy streets of Springfield, he said to El, “Thank you. For all your help, kiddo. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

“Good thing for you,” she said, fixing her makeup in the visor mirror before smiling over at him, “I already know.”

Jim chuckled. “Damn psychic kids…”

From the back seat, Jenny asked, “Can I have a snack?”

Jim sighed and said to El, “Please tell me you thought to bring something. I didn’t even think–”

El pulled a bag full of crackers from her purse, smiling at Jim as she handed them back to Jenny. “Wouldn’t want our flower girl running a low battery.”

“No we wouldn’t,” Jim agreed. For how much help El had been over the past month putting this together, sometimes Jim forgot that this was going to be the first wedding El had ever been to. 

He prayed to God it was going to be a good one.

The next one in the family was likely going to be Jonathan, Steve, and Nancy, however that was going to work out. Of course, Jonathan and Nancy had already had one wedding that none of them had been able to attend. Jim might have to have a talk with them, just to make sure there wasn’t some sort of elopement. Joyce deserved to be there to watch her son get married. End of story. 

As Jim parked in the hotel parking lot, he nodded to El, asking her, “Is the coast clear? Joyce and the boys are still across town, right?”

“Yes,” she insisted. “They’re leaving the theater now. It should take them about half an hour to get here.”

Jim tapped his temple. “That’s so handy. I’m gonna miss it when you go to college.” He took Jenny’s hand in his as they crossed the parking lot and headed for the front entrance of the hotel.

“You’ll still have Jenny for a few more years,” El insisted, taking Jenny’s other hand and squeezing it. After they went inside, El led them to the right toward the restaurant attached to the hotel. Before they got there, they took a left turn down a corridor. 

One of the doors along the corridor opened and Charlie leaned out, waving to them, “Hey, in here!”

~*~

As Joyce left the playhouse, one son on each arm, she said, "Well, thank you for the early Christmas present, guys!"

"You're welcome," Will said with a wide smile.

Jonathan added, "It's not even over yet. We're taking you out to dinner, too."

"Boys," Joyce complained. "Tickets to the theater _and_ dinner? No, it's too much."

"Don't worry," Will told her. "Dad paid for dinner. Come on, it'll be nice."

Well, Joyce did feel better knowing that Jim had paid for dinner. After all, Jonathan was supporting himself through school and Will was saving up for school. They shouldn't be splurging on her. "Okay. Where are we going?"

"There's this restaurant on the way home," Jonathan told her, opening her car door like a gentleman. "It's supposed to be nice. We've got a reservation."

"Wow, so proper," Joyce said with a laugh, watching Jonathan step around the car and get into the driver's seat. It occurred to her that he'd grown up even more than she'd realized. Ever since he was a little kid, he'd seemed to her like an old soul, and now it was even more pronounced. 

He moved through life in a weary sort of way, and that was part of it. The other part was the way she noticed him tackling challenges in his life. He didn't try to take them on by himself anymore. Joyce had seen the change happening in him before Cedarville, but she knew that experience had changed him more than he let on to anyone else.

His partners might know Jonathan much more deeply than Joyce did at that point, but she'd known him longer, and that counted for a lot. Somehow, against all odds, he'd come through everything _kinder_ and _wiser_ than before. Joyce wished she could take credit for it, but she knew it was all him. Maybe she would take credit for that heart of his, the one that cried out for justice and compassion the same way hers did.

When they reached the restaurant, Joyce noted it was attached to a hotel. She didn't think twice about it as Will accompanied her through the restaurant doors, an excited smile on his face. Jonathan followed them sedately, but smiling as well. Joyce started to get suspicious when the hostess led them past the dining room and into the hotel behind the restaurant. 

"Your table is right through here," she said, opening a door.

Joyce looked through the door to a completely unexpected sight. A long, white carpet led from the door, forming an aisle through two small groupings of chairs full of people, and ending at an arch covered in flowers. Beneath the arch stood Murray and Jim, both wearing suits. Beside Jim stood Steve and El. Steve gave her an excited little wave.

It was a wedding.

Next to her at the door stood Nancy and Jenny. Jenny had a basket full of flower petals. Nancy held a bouquet and for a second, Joyce thought this was a wedding for the kids. Except, why would Jim be standing up there?

Oh.

Beside her, Jonathan whispered as he pinned a white rose to his lapel, "It's up to you, mom. You don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"Dad just thought it would be nice," Will added, putting on his own boutonniere. 

This was all for _her_.

Joyce smiled and teared up at the same time. "Oh, you guys!"

Under the arch at the back of the room, Jim smiled.

Nodding toward Nancy, Joyce asked, "Are those for me?"

"They are," she said, handing Joyce the bouquet, taking her purse and coat, and giving her a hug. Music started playing and Nancy bent down, whispering something to Jenny.

Jenny grinned and turned back, saying, "Watch this, Mom!" Then she skipped up the aisle, trailing flower petals in her wake. 

Joyce couldn't help but laugh. Nancy went around the edge of the room, meeting Jenny in the front aisle and waving her toward a seat. Then Will took her right arm and Jonathan took her left. "It okay if we both walk you down the aisle?" Jonathan asked.

"Y-yes! Of course!" Joyce told him, tearing up. "Boys!" 

Will handed her a tissue just as the music changed. With a laugh, Joyce used it and let her boys walk her down the aisle.

Jim stood there, looking good in a slick suit with a flower pinned to his lapel, a bright smile on his face as Joyce approached him. She mouthed at him, "I can't believe you did this!" and he grinned even harder.

Jonathan led Joyce to the place where she was supposed to stand, and then stood up behind her, with Will behind him. Looking out over the small crowd, Joyce mostly just recognized her boys' friends, and Charlie was sitting in the front row with Nancy and Jenny. Everyone told Joyce that Charlie was going to be out of town for Christmas! 

"Dearly beloved!" Murray said loudly as the music ended. "We're gathered here today to watch these two crazy kids recite some vows."

Joyce laughed, reaching out and offering Jim her hand. He took it and squeezed her fingers, his grip solid, warm, and strong. 

~*~

Nancy watched Hopper and Joyce slow dance together in the center of the reception room, and she couldn't help but smile. Steve leaned closer to her and asked, "Think that'll be us someday?"

"Definitely," she said, grinning over at him and pulling him into a kiss. 

As they parted, Max announced that the dance floor was now open to everyone. Steve grinned and stood up, offering Nancy his hand. "You wanna?"

"Sure," Nancy said with a laugh. She gave Jonathan a quick kiss on his cheek (he barely noticed, engrossed in a discussion with Robin about something or other) and then let Steve help her to her feet. 

Out on the dance floor, Nancy clasped her hands behind Steve's neck, pressing close to him and letting him lead as they swayed back and forth together. After a minute, he said, "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Yeah, of course," she said, leaning back a little as they danced so she could see his face. "About what?"

Steve licked his lips before looking down at her. "When we get married, do you think you'll want to keep your name?"

"I…" Nancy said, frowning. "I hadn't actually thought about it. I didn't when Jonathan and I got married, but that was back in the sixties and it was a fake name. I didn't really care about keeping it." She looked up at Steve. "Why?"

"Because I _don't_ want to keep my name," Steve told her. "I want to change it. Take Jonathan's name."

"Huh," she said, watching his face and the sincerity there. "Steve Byers?"

"Yeah."

"It doesn't have the same ring to it," she said, smiling to show she was kidding.

Steve shrugged. "Maybe not, but at least it makes me think about people I care about, and who care about me. Harrington doesn't really do that for me."

Nancy thought about this. She thought about the way her name made her feel. It was _hers_ , but it wasn't like she'd had the chance to choose another. If she was married, part of a family, she wondered if she would mind having a different name than her husband. Or _husbands_ , as it were. Would she mind having a different name than her kid? When they had a kid?

She thought she might. 

But if all three of them had the same name as their kid, it would be obvious that they were all family. "I don't know," she finally said. "I might want to change my name. Maybe."

"Nancy Byers?" Steve asked, whispering in her ear as they danced close together. "Sounds pretty good to me."

Smiling, Nancy told him, "It kind of does, doesn't it? Especially when you say it."

"Mrs. Nancy Byers," he murmured in her ear. "It does sound good." He slipped one of his hands from around her waist and traced his finger along the chain hanging down under the neckline of her dress.

Nancy shivered and moved her hand to the place where his ring was hanging under his shirt. Blinking away some emotional tears, Nancy nodded. "Yeah. I think so too."

"Do you want me to wait to change my name?" Steve asked. "Wait until closer to when we actually get married?"

Nancy thought about exchanging vows with Jonathan in the Cedarville town hall. It had felt wrong without Steve there. It also felt like it had unbalanced things between the three of them. It had been either half a year, or a year and a half since then, depending on how you counted the time. Nancy could feel the way things were still a little unbalanced. 

She reached up and kissed him. "You should do it whenever you and Jonathan think it's time."

Steve's smile was slow to grow, but eventually it was a bright grin. "Thank you!" He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up, turning in a quick spin that made Nancy shriek and laugh. When Steve set her down, he kissed her again. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Nancy said as the music changed to something faster-paced. 

"Ooh!" Steve said, taking Nancy by the hands. "I love this song."

Nancy laughed and danced with Steve for a couple of songs until her feet needed a break. Steve pulled Robin into dancing with him, while Nancy went back to the table. She found Jonathan sitting there, watching her. Grinning, Nancy grabbed her soda from the table and sat in Jonathan's lap.

Winding his arms around Nancy and pulling her close, Jonathan said, "He looks really happy."

Looking around the room, Nancy noticed, "Everyone does."

Jonathan laughed and tucked his chin against her shoulder. "Nothing like a wedding to put people in good spirits."

"No, there isn't," Nancy said, setting her soda on the table and wrapping her arms around Jonathan. She kissed him happily. When the song changed, Nancy asked in Jonathan's ear, "Will you dance with me? Please?"

Jonathan sighed, but he was smiling. He pulled her into another kiss and nodded. "Sure. Just as long as you remember how bad I am."

"I don't care," she insisted, getting to her feet and kissing Jonathan before taking him by both hands. "Come on!"

Nancy pulled Jonathan onto the dance floor, guiding him through moving with her. Halfway through the song, Steve joined them, pressing close behind Jonathan. He put his hands on Jonathan's hips and moved in time with Nancy. And if Jonathan was always half a step behind them it didn't matter, because he was smiling and laughing and having fun. 

~*~

Jonathan and Steve dropped Charlie off at the St. Louis airport at eight in the morning the day before Christmas Eve. They'd had to leave Springfield at five-thirty, and only the blaring radio and a travel mug of coffee got Jonathan through it. Still, he parked at the curb and got out to wish Charlie farewell. Giving her a hug, Jonathan said, "Have a good time, okay? They're still your family, too."

"I will," she said with a nod, sincere for once. "Meet you back here on Sunday?"

"Definitely," he said, watching as Steve gave Charlie a hug too. 

A wicked smile on his face as he handed Charlie her suitcase, Steve asked, "Want us to bring Robin with us when we pick you up?"

Charlie made a sour expression before relenting and saying, "Yes." Then she walked away, throwing them the finger over her shoulder.

Steve laughed loudly, throwing his arms around Jonathan as they watched Charlie walk away. Once she cleared the airport doors, Jonathan held the keys out to Steve, asking, "Breakfast?"

"Yep," Steve said, grabbing the keys and heading for the driver's seat. As they drove away from the airport, he asked, "You ever get scared that Charlie will decide she doesn't like us very much after all and just, like, move on?"

"Not really," Jonathan told him, reaching over and putting his hand on the back of Steve's neck. "I mean, I'm sure there will be a point where she doesn't live with us anymore and we don't see her as much, but I don't think she'd ever walk away. Not completely."

"Because she's so much like you?" Steve asked, joining the traffic heading away from the airport. 

Jonathan shrugged. "I don't know. It's just a feeling I get." 

"Well, you've got a pretty good track record on that," Steve said, giving Jonathan a quick smile before he turned his attention back to the road. 

They found a breakfast spot and ordered more coffee and an obscene number of pancakes. When Steve got whipped cream on his nose, Jonathan laughed and reached across the table to wipe it off. Steve gave him a look and he felt like _love_ and Jonathan had to murmur, "I'm having such a hard time not kissing you right now."

"I know what you mean," Steve replied, pressing his ankle against Jonathan's and focusing on his pancakes. After a minute, he asked, "So, do you have any idea what sort of ring Nancy wants?"

"Not really," Jonathan said, taking another bite of his pancakes. "Obviously we're going to have to look at what we can get with the money we have."

"Yeah, I don't think that's going to be a problem," Steve replied. "It's not like she's the kind of girl holding out hope for a giant rock or anything. I was thinking something small and pretty, like her."

Jonathan thought about this, nodding. "Maybe something a little different?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know," Jonathan said, taking another bite and chewing it thoughtfully. "Maybe something with a different colored stone. Or with three stones or something."

"For the three of us?" Steve asked, a smile on his face. "Yeah, I like that idea."

"Can we afford three stones?" Jonathan asked, pushing a piece of pancake through a pool of syrup.

"If they're little ones, sure." Steve rolled his eyes a little before saying, "I _think_ I remember hearing my mom talk about how little ones are a lot more common than the big ones. So, you can get more diamonds if they're littler. She was totally talking shit about some other lady's ring, but you know. Useful information."

Jonathan nodded. He wondered how much more of that seemingly-random useful information Steve was carrying around with him. 

After eating, they went over to the mall and started looking at rings. Jonathan let Steve take the lead when it came to talking with the sales people. The last one they talked to, a woman a little older than Jonathan's mom, told Steve, "I wish more men would bring in friends to help them shop. This is a big decision to make on your own."

"Yeah, it is," Steve told her, giving Jonathan a smile that wasn't quite as innocent as he might have meant it to be. Turning back to the case, Steve pointed at a ring, asking, "How much is that one?"

Jonathan watched the woman take out a gold-colored ring set with three equally-sized diamonds. They were small, but the ring itself was really pretty. Jonathan thought it would look good on Nancy's finger. It would look really good. 

"This one's priced at $350," said the woman, the figure right in their price range, and Jonathan felt the moment Steve fell in love with it. 

Before he could do something like buy it on the spot, Jonathan put a hand on Steve's shoulder and asked, "Do you guys usually do any sales after Christmas?"

The woman blinked at Jonathan for a moment before saying, "Yes, generally. But wouldn't you like to have the ring for Christmas?" she asked Steve. "Propose on such a romantic, special day?"

Steve made a show of considering this, even though he and Jonathan had decided on proposing on New Year's, not Christmas. "I've got to think it over. Would you hold this one until Sunday?" They'd be back in town on Sunday to pick up Charlie from the airport. They could pick up the ring before they went and got her. It was a good plan.

"You'd have to put 10% down," she told him with a smile. 

Steve took his wallet out of his pocket. "I can do that."

After they left the shop, Steve said, "We _have_ to get that one. It's perfect."

Smiling, Jonathan nodded. "Yeah, it kind of is."

"Now we just have to decide what we're going to say."

Heading down the hallway that would take them back to the car, Jonathan said, "We've got two hours to work on it during the drive back."

They got most of the way to the car before Steve stopped short and said, "Shit."

"What?"

"I haven't gotten Nancy anything for Christmas yet. Or got anything for most of the family." He gave Jonathan a too-charming smile. "I'll get you whatever you want for lunch if you help me shop?"

Jonathan thought about this for a second, then he leaned closer to Steve, whispering, "Lunch _and_ a blow job."

Steve laughed. "You know, you really should be bargaining with something I _don't_ enjoy doing."

“Damn,” Jonathan said with a grin. “Next time I’ll get you to do the laundry or something.” 

Steve’s bright laughter was almost as good as the kiss Jonathan couldn’t give him in public.

~*~

Nancy realized late on Christmas Eve that as often as she’d been to the Byers house in Springfield, she’d never celebrated Christmas there. Honestly, it wasn’t that different from Thanksgiving, except Mike and Robin were back in Hawkins. She was the only one at the house who _hadn’t_ lived there full time for at least a year. 

And it didn’t feel weird at all. El wanted some help with her outfit for the New Year’s party. Jenny wanted to stick plastic gemstone stickers on Nancy’s ears, giggling about how pretty she was. Will wanted to play scrabble with someone who “presented a challenge." After Jenny went to bed, Joyce and Hopper joined the rest of the family for some card games. 

It felt more comfortable than spending Christmas with her own family. It made her think again about the conversation she’d had with Steve at the wedding. It wasn’t like having the same name would make her more or less part of the family. But maybe it would be nice to share a name with everyone under this roof. To be part of _this_ family forever. 

Robin came to Springfield the day after Christmas. The day after that, Jonathan, Steve, and Robin all drove down to St. Louis to pick up Charlie from the airport. Nancy offered to go with them, but they protested that the car would be too full, and El wanted to take her shopping to spend her Christmas money, so Nancy stayed behind. 

Nancy thought it might have been awkward, being in the house without Jonathan or Steve, but it wasn’t. It felt comfortable and homey. And Nancy appreciated every single second of it. 

When the others came back with Charlie, Nancy made sure she was the first one to give Charlie a welcoming hug. They ordered pizza and played cards with greasy fingers and it was good. 

It was so good.

Nancy leaned against Jonathan, listening to him laugh, and she almost didn’t want to go back to Hawkins. 

Two days after Christmas, Joyce and Hopper left the kids in their care and went to the airport, bound for Miami and warmer weather. El and Jonathan helped Jenny get packed for their own trip to Hawkins. 

“Are you sure it’s going to be fun?” Jenny asked Jonathan as they brought her backpack and her little duffel bag to the front door. 

“Yes. I'm sure it will,” Jonathan assured her, looking over to Nancy like he was asking for help. 

Nancy patted the couch next to her and waited for Jenny to join her. “You remember I told you I’ve got a little sister your age?”

Jenny nodded.

“Well, she has all sorts of fun toys that I’m sure she’d be willing to share.”

“Plus the pond will be frozen over by now,” Steve added from where he was sitting at the kitchen table. “We can teach you how to ice skate.”

Nancy nodded. “And, my parents have a VCR. Why don’t we bring your favorite movie? We could watch it tonight before bed.”

Jenny thought about this for a moment. “Okay. That sounds alright.”

“Good.”

And then it was time to go. 

Charlie rode with Robin. Jonathan rode with the twins and Jenny, just in case, since he was their legal guardian while Joyce and Hopper were on vacation. 

That left Nancy riding with Steve in his car. Although, somewhere in the past few months, she’d been starting to think of it as her car, too. She used it just as often as either of the boys. She had her own set of keys to it as well. “What do you think?” Nancy asked Steve as he started up the engine. She held up two cassettes. “Wham! or the new Michael Jackson?” She grinned excitedly, as Jonathan would have complained loudly over either selection. 

“Oh, Jackson, definitely,” Steve said, leaning over far enough to kiss Nancy soundly before he put the car in drive.

The ride to Hawkins was familiar, and spending it singing along to the stereo with Steve made the miles fly by. They made it to the house first, but only by a minute, as Robin pulled in shortly after. She rolled down her window as Charlie got out, saying, “Hey, my parents want me home for a family thing. We’ll do something tomorrow?”

“Sounds good, Robs,” Steve said, clasping her hand for a moment. 

“Bye,” Charlie said with a smug grin.

Rolling her eyes, but mostly happy that her daughter was happy, Nancy tugged Charlie by the arm, saying, “Come on. I’ll introduce you to my parents.”

Nancy walked into the house, calling out, “Hello? We’re here!”

Mike came barreling down the stairs before stopping, looking at the three of them, and saying, “Hey,” like he was disappointed. 

Nancy laughed and gave her brother a hug. “They’re in the other car. They should be here soon. I bet they just had to take an extra bathroom break or something.”

“Cool,” Mike said, giving Charlie and Steve hugs. 

“Hi!” called Karen as she came into the foyer from the living room. She pulled Nancy into a tight hug. “It was so strange not having you here for Christmas!”

“Yeah, me too,” Nancy lied as Karen gave Steve a hug as well. Then Nancy took a deep breath and said, “Mom, this is Charlie.”

“Right, Jonathan’s cousin,” Karen said, giving Charlie a warm handshake. “It’s so nice to meet you. Come in!”

She led them into the living room, ignoring Ted and Holly, who were watching something on the TV. Karen sat Charlie and Steve both on the couch, sitting next to Charlie and asking, “So, how are you liking living with Nancy and Steve in Chicago?”

“It’s good,” Charlie said, looking to Nancy like she needed some help. Nancy shrugged, giving Holly and then her dad both hugs that they barely noticed. 

Steve took over instead. “I managed to wrangle her a job working with me at La Grâce,” he said, giving her a proud look. “ _And_ she’s got applications in for some of the colleges around town.”

“Oh?” Karen asked. “What do you want to study?”

Charlie fiddled with her scarf, shrugging and saying, “I’m not sure yet. Something creative. Music production at the tech school, maybe.”

“I think you’d be great at that,” Steve told her. 

“Yeah,” Nancy agreed, taking a seat on the floor next to Holly. “You’ve got great taste in music.” She grinned and Charlie laughed a little bit. 

“Thanks to you, huh?” Charlie asked.

Nancy shrugged innocently, but she smiled too. Knowing the joke would go over her mom’s head, Nancy changed the topic and said, “We were thinking about taking the girls ice skating on the pond tomorrow.”

“Oh?” Karen asked. “Well, a new indoor rink opened up while you were away at school. They rent skates and everything. Should we maybe check that out instead?”

“Yeah,” Nancy said, giving her mom a warm smile. “Yeah, that sounds fun.”

Jonathan and the others arrived then, and everything was chaos for a bit. When Nancy went into the kitchen to help her mother get snacks for everyone, Karen said, “You know, it’s funny…”

“What’s funny?” Nancy asked, pouring a bag of pretzels into a bowl.

“Charlie smiles just like my mother does.” Karen shook her head. “If I didn’t know any better, I might think she was _your_ cousin, rather than Jonathan’s.”

“Huh,” Nancy said, all but certain her mother couldn’t deal with knowing the truth. “That’s strange how that can happen.”

“Strange,” Karen agreed. “She seems nice, though. And like she and Jonathan are close.”

Nodding, Nancy said, “Yeah. The two of them reconnected over the summer. She wasn’t in a great situation before, but I think Chicago has been good for her.”

“It was nice of you to open up your home like that.” Karen took a block of cheese out of the refrigerator and began cutting it into cracker-sized slices. “I hope things aren’t getting too crowded.”

“No, it’s been good,” Nancy insisted, arranging things on the big wooden tray Karen wanted to use. Shrugging, Nancy said, “She’s family.”

Karen gave Nancy a long look, and then nodded. “Jonathan’s family is your family.”

“Yeah. It really is.” Worried about that look on her mother’s face, Nancy asked, “Is that weird for you?”

“No, no,” Karen said, pulling Nancy into a hug. “I knew it would happen at some point. I’m just thinking I’m too young to have a daughter with in-laws.”

Nancy laughed. “Sorry?”

“Don’t be,” Karen said. She caught Nancy’s hands in hers and spread them out, looking Nancy up and down. “It must suit you, because you’re looking well. Healthy.”

“Steve and I have been running,” Nancy told her. “It’s been too cold outside lately, so we joined a gym close to our apartment.”

Karen gave her a proud look. “Still doing good things at the student paper?”

“Yep,” Nancy replied. “This semester has been pretty quiet on that front, but I’m doing my best. Proving myself to the new editor.”

Karen pulled Nancy into another hug. “I’m sure you’ll be conquering the world in no time.”

Nancy blushed at the compliment. “Thanks, Mom.”


	6. New Year's Eve

Steve pulled up in front of his mother’s house, trying not to be too nervous. The ring was in the pocket of the suit he was going to wear tonight, and that was in the garment bag laid across the trunk. Oh, yeah, and he was also introducing his mother to his sort-of daughter today. That wasn’t stressful at all!

Jonathan reached over and put his hand on Steve’s wrist. “Baby, it’s gonna be fine.”

“I know,” Steve told him, putting his other hand over Jonathan’s and squeezing it. “Just…” he took a deep breath and let it out. “Big day!”

“Big day,” Jonathan agreed. 

Steve squeezed Jonathan’s hand one more time before making himself get out of the car. He grabbed the bag with his and Jonathan’s suits (and the ring) and went into the house. 

“Mom! We’re here to help with the party stuff!”

“Excellent!” Harriet called from the upstairs balcony. “This party is going to be the talk of the town all year!”

“Hopefully only for good reasons,” Jonathan said under his breath, making Steve laugh. 

Climbing the stairs, Steve let his mother kiss him on the cheek, saying, “I’ve got clothes for later to hang up in my room.”

“Oh, just a moment.” She gave him a soft look and another hug. “Like I said over the phone, I have guests, some of whom will be staying in your room. Why don’t you put your clothes in the master closet?”

“Yeah, so what guests are these?” Steve asked.

“Oh, friends from school,” Harriet told him. “From before I married your father. They’ll be here before the party really gets into swing.”

“Okay, well, let’s get to work, I guess?”

Steve and Jonathan helped put up the decorations and move extra furniture out to the garage, and Steve helped the caterers find things in the kitchen, and it was exhausting, but also kind of fun.

Around four in the afternoon, Harriet went upstairs to get ready, and Steve collapsed onto the living room couch. “I think I might need a nap,” he told Jonathan, who laid down mostly on top of Steve, snuggling up close. 

“Me too,” Jonathan said with a sleepy sigh. 

Steve woke up a while later when the doorbell rang. Disoriented, Steve got out from under Jonathan, tried to push his hair somewhat back into place, and went to the door. 

When he opened it, his father was on the other side.

All Steve could think to say was, “Oh.”

A sour expression on his face, Fred sighed. “Of course I’d find you here.”

Sarcastically, Steve said, “Yeah, nice to see you, too.”

“Is your mother home?”

“She is.”

Fred frowned and gave a loud huff. “Well, I need to speak to her. Let me in so I don’t have to wait out in the cold.”

Steve sighed. “Fine.” He stepped back, holding open the door until Fred was all the way through it, and then closing it again. “I’ll go get her. Don’t...don’t touch anything.”

Fred scoffed and muttered something as Steve climbed the stairs. He knocked on his mother’s bedroom door. “Mom! Fred is here to see you.”

“Oh, really?” She asked, sounding genuinely surprised. “Shoot, I need a couple more minutes! I’ll be right down!”

Steve sighed and went back down the stairs, wanting to keep an eye on Fred. He might just do something petty like tear down some of the decorations or flip over one of the catered trays of food. Steve was relieved to find Fred right where he’d left him, except now he was glaring at something. 

At someone. 

“Fred, this is Jonathan Byers,” Steve said, putting himself between the two of them. “Jonathan, Fred Harrington.”

“What the hell is _he_ doing here?” Fred demanded.

“He was _invited_ ,” Steve replied, taking a step closer to Fred. He knew Jonathan could defend himself easily if it came to it, but Steve felt kind of like this was his battle he had to fight. “Unlike _you_. What are you even doing here? This couldn’t wait until the holidays were over?”

“Why was he invited, Steven?”

“Because I wanted him here.”

Fred took another, dangerous step forward, staring daggers at Steve. “It’s been _years_. Why are you still clinging to some loser’s son from the wrong side of town?” Fred scoffed. “What, are you _in love_ with him?”

The mocking tone in Fred’s voice just broke the fucking dam, and Steve cried, “Yes! Yes, you utter moron, _of course_ I am!” 

He caught his breath, watching as the meaning hit Fred and his mouth fell open. 

“And I really don’t appreciate you saying those nasty things about the man I love!”

Fred’s eyes opened wide with anger and surprise. “No!” he roared. “No son of mine is queer!”

Steve stood his ground. “Good thing I’m not your son anymore, huh?” He laughed harshly. “Because I am _so_ fucking queer, you wouldn’t believe it! Isn’t that right, babe?”

“Yeah. Like a three dollar bill,” Jonathan said, taking a few steps closer, stopping just behind Steve’s shoulder. 

Fred gaped and took half a step back. That step confused Steve, until he realized Fred had likely noticed the fact that though Jonathan was slightly shorter than him, both Steve and Jonathan were broader than him in the shoulders. Steve had been hitting the gym with Nancy and Jonathan had been working at the shop, which certainly was as good as a workout when it came to building muscle. Fred was outmatched, and Steve saw on his face that he knew it.

“Does your mother know about this?” Fred asked.

Before Steve could answer that she did, Harriet herself spoke from the top of the stairs. “I know,” she said, moving down the steps in her elegant, shimmering silver dress meant for the party. “Unlike you, I have been in contact with my son for the past year. I know all about the life he’s been building for himself.”

Fred stood there speechless as Harriet approached them.

She reached over and touched Steve’s arm. “My son has been working his way through college in Chicago. And you’ve been doing well, haven’t you, Steven?”

“Got my GPA up to 3.2 this semester,” Steve said. “The reading glasses helped. You know,” he glared at Fred, “the eye doctor said I’ve probably needed them for awhile. But no son of Fred Harrington needs glasses, right? The headaches I always got from reading just meant I wasn’t trying hard enough, right?”

Jonathan scoffed, sounding angry on Steve’s behalf. And why shouldn’t he be? Steve was angry too. He spent so much time wondering why school work seemed easier for everyone else. He spent so much time thinking he was stupid and lazy, and the fix was just a simple pair of reading glasses.

His teeth clenched, Fred turned away from Steve and toward Harriet. “I need to talk to you about dissolving the trust.”

“I already told you,” Harriet said to him, “the trust is irrevocable. It doesn’t belong to either of us anymore. No judge in his right mind is going to award it to you.”

Fred glanced over at Steve. “I need that money! You’ve cleaned me out, woman! There’s nothing left!”

Harriet smiled at Fred. “I’m sure you’ll make more money, darling. You know how to do well for yourself. You always have. And in the meantime, I hear the Super 8 out by the highway has some vacancies.”

“You and that damned lawyer!” Fred cried, sticking a finger in Harriet’s face. “You’re sleeping with him, aren’t you?”

Steve put himself between Fred and his mother, just in case. 

“Lucky for you, my personal business is none of your concern anymore,” Harriet told him, putting a hand on Steve’s shoulder. “So if you’re done insulting me and my son and his partner, I think it’s time for you to leave.”

“How?” Fred asked her, reaching for the door. “How can you tolerate your son’s disgusting behavior?”

“Because he’s _happy_ this way, Frederick. Something you know absolutely nothing about. Goodbye.”

Steve grinned, more than a little relieved by the way his mother was defending him. He said to his father, “Goodbye. Try not to come around again, huh?”

Fred looked Steve square in the face and said, “You’re right. I don’t have a son. No son with blood of mine would turn out this way. You must be some other man's bastard.”

With that, Fred opened the door and left, stomping down the stairs into the driveway. Steve flipped him off when he looked back, then closed the door, sagging against it.

“I’m so sorry about that,” Harriet said, pulling Steve into a hug. “He's angry because he foolishly used one of his club buddies as his divorce lawyer. The poor man had no idea what he was doing.”

“Are you okay?” Jonathan asked, coming over to Steve’s side, no doubt sensing how rattled he felt. 

“I will be,” Steve assured him, taking Jonathan’s hand and squeezing it. Then he asked Harriet, “What trust were you talking about?”

“Oh, it was meant to be a tax shelter more than anything else, but your–” She stopped herself short, glaring at the closed door. “ _Fred_ and I set up a trust for you, years ago. It’s set to start paying out annually next year, when you turn twenty-one.”

“Paying out?” Steve asked, sharing a glance with Jonathan. “How much are we talking?”

“Oh, not _that_ much,” Harriet said. “I think it’s about twenty grand a year. For twenty-five years. You know, enough to help you get settled into a career, finish school, maybe help buy a house.”

“Twenty _grand_?” Steve cried, sharing a surprised look with Jonathan. “I’m making _maybe_ eight working part time at this new, fancy restaurant. Why didn’t you tell me about it before?”

“When you were in high school, we didn’t want you thinking you could just rely on that money and not apply yourself. Then I guess, you left. And things with the divorce were a bit up-in-the-air for some time,” she insisted. “But now I have the house, and I have enough to live off of for the rest of my life. Everything’s settled.”

Steve thought about this, about everything he could do with that money. He could get a new car! He could save it, hold onto it just in case he did have trouble finding a teaching job. He could live off it, be a house-husband for Jonathan and Nancy. He knew he’d get bored doing that, but it was fun to think about.

Then something occurred to him. “Mom, what happens to the money if I change my name?”

“Change your name?” Harriet asked. “Why?”

Pointing at the door, Steve said, “Because I don’t want that asshole’s name anymore.”

“I think it would be alright,” Harriet said, wrapping her arms around Steve and holding him tightly. “I will double-check with my lawyer to be sure.”

Steve let out a relieved breath and returned his mother’s hug. “Okay. Thanks.”

Pulling back, Harriet smiled at Steve, saying, “I really am proud of you, darling. The way you’ve done everything on your own? I’m so proud.”

“I haven’t been completely on my own,” Steve insisted, pulling Jonathan closer with a hand around his waist. “But thanks.”

Harriet smiled. Then she looked at her watch and dropped her mouth open with surprise. “Guests are going to be here any minute! You two need to get dressed!”

“Shit, okay,” Steve said, taking Jonathan’s hand and heading for the stairs. “We’ll be down in a few minutes!”

At the top of the stairs, Jonathan said softly, “Big day.”

“Yeah,” Steve said with a careful chuckle. “Big day." As he closed and locked his mother’s bedroom door behind them, he told Jonathan, “I’m sorry about Fred. About outing you like that to him. I didn’t think it through.”

“It’s okay,” Jonathan said, pulling Steve close and holding him. “Do you still want to give Nancy the ring tonight? We could wait for some other night. If you wanted.”

“Nah,” Steve said, pressing his face into the crook of Jonathan’s neck. “It’s been killing me, having it all week and not giving it to her.”

Chuckling softly, Jonathan pulled Steve into a soft kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Steve replied. 

~*~

Jonathan couldn’t say he was much for parties, this one included. The music sucked and he didn’t drink and the food was all kinds of strange and there were a _lot_ of people, but he was here anyway. For Steve. Jonathan spent most of his time watching over Jenny and Holly. Over the past few days they’d struck up something of a careful friendship. There weren’t any other kids their age around, so he supposed they were probably more friends of convenience than anything else. 

Still, they sat together eating appetizers, putting olives on their fingers and laughing. They ran around the outskirts of the party, dodging Harriet’s guests and trying to catch each other. They danced to the music with Steve and Robin.

It was a bit of a relief when eleven o’clock came and they both passed out on the couch in the office. On his way to get a soda or something to wet his parched throat, Jonathan was stopped by Harriet, “Oh, Jonathan! I’d like you to meet my friends!”

Jonathan looked over and saw she stood with a pair of men roughly her age. He figured these must have been the friends from school that she spoke about earlier. "This is Sam," she said, pointing to the taller one with darker skin. Then she gestured to the shorter blonde. "And this is Karl. They live in Columbus."

"Nice to meet you," Jonathan said politely, doing a surface read of them both just by habit. They both felt a strange warmth toward Jonathan that he didn't understand until Karl shot Sam a glance and felt a calm sort of love. Oh. They were _together_. And they knew about him. Harriet must have told them, and Jonathan wondered if she had turned to them for advice or something about Steve. He asked Harriet, "Are these the friends from school staying with you?"

"Yes, some of them," Harriet said, smiling brightly at him. "You know, Sam is an artist. I thought you might have that in common. Among other things."

Jonathan couldn't help rolling his eyes, despite knowing that Harriet certainly thought she was doing a good thing.

"Oh, I think I need to attend to the wine," Harriet said suddenly. "Excuse me."

Sam laughed and once Harriet was out of earshot, he said, "Sorry about that. She means well."

"Yeah, I know," Jonathan replied, figuring it would be rude to walk off without giving at least a small attempt at a civil conversation. "So, what kind of art do you do?"

"Mostly sculpture," Sam replied, looking over at Karl. "Right now I've got the garage full of half-finished pieces."

Karl sighed. "My poor Volvo, out in the weather."

"I'm _close_ on the biggest one," Sam insisted, rubbing his hand across Karl's back before dropping it again. He nodded toward Jonathan. "Harriet told us you're a photographer?"

"Yeah," Jonathan said. "I'm going to UIC, um, Illinois-Chicago, on a photography scholarship."

Karl said, "Impressive," and Jonathan watched his eyes track someone as they approached. Jonathan got a vague impression that his gaze matched with what Jonathan could feel of Nancy's movements through the party, getting closer to him. "We both went to Ohio State with Harriet."

"It's a good school," Jonathan replied, accepting Nancy under his arm without having to look to know it was her. 

"Honey, eat these mushrooms for me, would you?" she said, handing Jonathan a little plate with several stuffed mushroom caps on it. "Who are we talking to? Hi, I'm Nancy."

Karl and Sam introduced themselves politely, but internally they were very confused. 

"Nancy's going to Northwestern for journalism," Jonathan said, taking a bite of one of the mushrooms and deciding that he didn't like them either.

"Well, _Jonathan's_ minoring in journalism too," Nancy told them, giving him a proud smile. "We're going to try getting jobs with the same newspaper after we graduate."

Harriet's friends looked even more confused, and almost _offended_. It amused Jonathan, people being more offended by his relationship with Nancy than his one with Steve. 

"So, do you guys like living in Columbus?" Jonathan asked, meeting Steve's eyes across the room and gesturing him over. 

Nodding and giving Karl a confused look, Sam said, "Yeah, we do. It's got a great art scene. And, you know, a lot of…" He cleared his throat. "Well, a good community for us."

"Yeah, Chicago has been better than I thought it would be," Jonathan told them. "Especially since we moved to Boystown. It's…" Jonathan looked at Nancy, trying to find the right word. "Well, it's _loud_ , but it's good too."

Nancy nodded, leaning closer to Jonathan. "Charlie's not the biggest fan, but she's used to living out in the woods."

Steve joined them then, saying, "Oh, hey! You met Sam and Karl. Hi, again!" He pointed to Jonathan's plate, "Damn, you got the last couple mushrooms. Can I…?"

"Take the plate," Jonathan insisted, earning a grin from Steve.

"Thanks, babe." He nodded over to the others and asked, "Did Karl tell you about the car he's restoring? What was it? A Dodge something."

"Charger," Karl replied. "She's a '68."

Jonathan whistled. "It's a nice car. My dad wrecked a '74 when I was a kid."

"Too bad he didn't wreck his face, too," Steve muttered, stuffing the mushroom into his mouth whole and watching as Nancy wandered away in Charlie and Robin's direction.

Jonathan wondered if the comment had anything to do with Steve's own dad showing up earlier in the night. Not that Jonathan was going to defend Lonnie and say he didn’t deserve a wrecked face. He did. Several times over. 

"I don't know too much about cars," Karl admitted. "But I was looking for a hobby to keep me busy while this one," he nudged Sam, "is working himself to death. Not _finishing_ anything."

Sam laughed, touching Karl’s shoulder again. Jonathan looked over at Steve and wondered if that’s what they were going to look like twenty or so years down the road. Bickering like an old married couple, and yet still _holding back_ in mixed company. Sure, some of the people here at the party knew about them, but then there was Nancy's dad, and Lucas' parents, and some of the Loch Nora neighbors, and even some of Harriet's friends from the country club. 

How Harriet had gone from being friends with Sam and Karl, to being married to Fred Harrington didn't make sense to Jonathan. Curious, Jonathan asked, "So, how did you get to be friends with Harriet? You guys had class together?"

"Actually, we were all in the choir," Sam said, smiling over at Karl again.

"Really?" Steve asked, looking across the room at his mother. "I knew she liked to sing along with the radio…" Turning back to Sam and Karl, he asked, "Were you guys any good?"

"Oh, lord, no," Karl said with a laugh. "But we had fun. And Harriet was a good friend. A good singer, too. She always got the big solos.”

"We cried when she told us she was marrying Fred Harrington, of all people," Sam admitted. He reached for Steve, patting him on the arm. "No offense."

"None taken," Steve told him. "I'm pretty sure he officially disowned me today." Steve looked over at Jonathan, taking his hand and squeezing it briefly before letting go. Then he asked Sam, "Why would she even marry him in the first place? If he was like that to… well, to people like us?"

Stepping closer, Sam said in a low voice, "Her parents didn't give her much of a choice, I'm sorry to say."

Steve nodded, his mood turning heartbroken in an instant. Jonathan put his arm around Steve's shoulders, wishing he could give Steve more than a sideways hug to help him feel better. Steve sniffled a little bit before saying, "Well, I'm glad she dumped his ass, finally. And thanks for coming today. I'm sure reconnecting with old friends has been good for her."

"We hope so too," Karl said with a careful smile.

"C'mon, babe," Steve said to Jonathan. "I need you to come with me for a minute."

"Sure," Jonathan said, following Steve through the party and out into the garage. It was a bit chilly, so Jonathan wrapped his arms around Steve and asked him, "Are you okay?"

"Big day," Steve said with a stilted laugh, holding onto Jonathan. "She used to have cool friends. She used to sing. And then he…"

When Steve paused for a long moment, Jonathan prompted him to keep going. "Yeah?"

"He _ruined_ her, and he kept her from me for a _whole year_."

Holding Steve close with one hand, Jonathan pet his hair with the other, trying to soothe his aching heart. "It sucks. You're right to feel sad about this."

"I hate knowing that he's just … walking around in the world. Being an asshole," Steve admitted. "I wish he would drop dead."

Jonathan bit back on the urge to offer to kill Fred for him. It would be too easy. Jonathan would just have to find him, and snap his neck from fifty feet away. 

_ Far  _ too easy.

Instead, Jonathan held Steve and said, "I know. I know." Then he whispered, "She can recover from him. Just look at how well my mom has done after Lonnie." Brushing the tears from Steve's face, Jonathan gave him an encouraging smile. "You can recover from him, too. It's not going to feel like this forever."

Steve nodded, but some thought or other made him feel suddenly worse.

"What is it?" Jonathan asked.

After swallowing a few times and wiping his nose with his hand, Steve said, "We're not gonna ruin Nancy, are we?"

" _No_ ," Jonathan insisted. "Steve, we're not. I mean, what makes you think we can't learn from the mistakes our fathers made? That we haven't _already_ learned from their mistakes?"

Steve sighed. "I know _you're_ not that stupid, but what about me? I have _this_ ," he took the ring box out of his pocket, "and I'm gonna propose before we're even halfway through college. If I was smart, I'd be able to wait longer. I'd let Nancy figure out more about what she wants and who she wants to be and–"

"Baby," Jonathan said, putting his hand over Steve's mouth to get him to shut up for a second. "Come on, listen to me. Are you doing this because you want to _own_ Nancy?"

Steve's face twisted up and he felt a pang of horror. "No!"

"Okay, then you're not like Fred. So, _can_ you tell me why you want to propose?" Jonathan met Steve's eyes for a long moment, waiting for him to answer. "Just tell me why."

"Because," he said with a sigh, putting a hand to his chest. "Because I love her so much it _hurts_ and I can't stand other people thinking she doesn't have someone that...that loves her like I do. Like _we_ do."

His own chest clenching painfully at the words, and the strength of the emotion behind them, Jonathan grabbed Steve with one hand and pulled him into a hard kiss. He tried to grab him with the other hand too, but he ran his hand into the one Steve was using to hold the ring box. It clattered to the ground.

"Shit," Steve said, pulling away from Jonathan and looking to the ground around their feet. "Where did it go?"

When Jonathan didn't see it right away, he told Steve, "Oh, fuck, I don't know."

Steve dropped to the ground, and Jonathan followed him. Seeing something next to the tire of Harriet’s car, Jonathan crawled over and picked up the box. He found it open and empty. “Oh no, the ring got loose!”

“Fuck,” Steve said, but he laughed a little too. “What the fuck is wrong with this day?”

“I don’t know,” Jonathan told him. “Keep looking. It’s got to be around here somewhere!”

~*~

Around eleven thirty, Nancy realized that she hadn't seen Steve or Jonathan for longer than she would have expected if they had just stepped out to get some air. They were probably fucking somewhere, weren't they? And they didn't invite her? Well, that was kind of rude.

Feeling a little bit grumpy about being left out, Nancy began to look for them. She started upstairs, in Steve's old room, but there was an unfamiliar suitcase sitting on the bed and nothing else. Nancy checked the guest room next (another unfamiliar suitcase), the bathroom, and then the master suite. Nothing.

Okay, maybe she was wrong and they _did_ just step out for some air.

Nancy tried the back patio, but the woods creeped her out so she didn't look very hard. The downstairs bathroom was in use, but soon enough Lucas' mom came out. Then Nancy spotted the door to the garage. Maybe they were out there?

Nancy opened the door and noticed the light was on. She almost didn't see them, until she realized all four of their legs were sticking out from under Harriet's Mercedes. "What the…?"

"Ah! I got it!" Steve said, and both he and Jonathan started backing out from under the car.

The first one out from under the car, Jonathan got up to his knees and asked Steve, "Is it okay?"

Steve joined him, kneeling next to Jonathan with something in his hand. "Yeah, I think so. There might be some oil on it."

Putting a hand to his forehead, Jonathan said, "Oh, Jesus. At least we found it."

More curious than anything else, Nancy asked, "What did you find?"

Both of them jumped, which made Nancy grin. She hadn't been able to sneak up on Jonathan in _ages_. 

"Oh, uh, hey, Nancy," Steve said, looking at her over his shoulder, wrapping his fist around something small. "How's it going?"

Nancy walked over to them, asking, "No, seriously. What are you doing?"

Jonathan looked at Steve and said, "We could…"

"Now?" Steve replied, his eyes kind of red and his fist still wrapped around _something_. "But we weren't gonna until after…"

"Kinda doesn't matter now." Jonathan tilted his head toward Nancy.

"Is it some sort of surprise?" she asked them. "And what are you guys still doing down on the ground?"

Steve smiled at Jonathan, which made Jonathan smile back, and Nancy didn't know what was going on, but she smiled too.

Then both of them turned toward Nancy, Steve taking Nancy's right hand in his and Jonathan taking her left. They both shifted a little so each only had one knee on the ground, and then nodded at each other before looking up at her.

"Hi," Steve said with a big smile.

Nancy laughed, still confused. "Hi. What's–"

"We love you," Jonathan said, nudging Steve with his free elbow.

Nancy tried to reply, "I love y–" but Steve cut in.

Looking over at Jonathan, he said, "I forgot what I was gonna say!"

"Well, you have to say _something_ ," Jonathan told him. "I mean, you could just say what you were telling me before…"

"Oh, right." Steve looked back up at Nancy. "I love you so much, Nance. So much it literally _hurts_ , like I'm gonna explode." He smiled. "You mean everything to me."

Nancy still didn't know what was going on, but she knew the sincerity in Steve's face and his voice meant that it was something important. She whispered, "Steve…" and clutched his hand tighter.

"And I really … well, I don't think people should have to guess whether or not someone loves you that much," Steve said.

"He's trying to say that we want to give you something, from both of us," Jonathan said. "And that it comes with a question."

"What's the question?" Nancy asked, looking from Jonathan to Steve and back again.

And then, Steve opened his fist and showed her what he was holding. In the center of Steve's palm sat a ring. It was delicate looking, and gold, with a few clear gems in it. Diamonds, she guessed. When Nancy looked from the ring to Steve's face, he asked, "Nancy Wheeler, will you marry us?"

"He means him," Jonathan added.

"Well, yeah, me _legally_ ," Steve said, "but _us_ , really. And not like, right away. But when you're ready. Maybe after gradu–"

"Shut up," Nancy told him, twisting her right hand out of Steve's grasp. It trembled slightly as she picked the ring from Steve's palm, turning it to get a better look at it. "There's three diamonds."

"Three of us," Steve said softly. Nancy could feel his and Jonathan's eyes on her, watching her. 

She pulled her left hand out of Jonathan's grasp and slipped the ring onto her left ring finger. "It's a little too big."

"We'll get it sized," Jonathan said, and Nancy noticed he and Steve were now holding hands tightly. Almost like they were nervous. But what were they…

_ Oh! _

" _Yes_ , obviously. I'll marry you," Nancy told them, leaning down to put her arms around both of them. They hugged her back tightly, Steve pressing a kiss to her neck. Then Nancy laughed. "You guys proposed to me in a garage?"

"Well, we were going to do it in the sun room, by the fireplace after most everyone else left," Jonathan said, "but then we almost lost the ring."

"And you were _here_ , and you _saw_ us with it, so…" Steve added.

Nancy laughed again and helped both of them to their feet. She kissed Steve first, then Jonathan. Standing between them, she turned toward the light to get a better look at the ring. It wasn't very big, but it suited her hand, and it was elegant. "My mom is gonna flip," she said with a little laugh. 

"In a good way or a bad way?" Steve asked, wrapping one of his arms around her. Jonathan pulled her in close too, until she was almost cradled between the two of them.

"I'm not sure," Nancy replied. "I wonder how long it will take someone to notice if I just don't say anything."

"Robin will notice," Steve told her, rubbing the back of his neck. "She came with when we picked up the ring."

"She knows we were going to ask you tonight. And I bet she told Charlie," Jonathan said, before kissing Nancy's cheek.

Nancy took another minute to admire the ring. "You know, you didn't have to do this. I figured keeping our rings around our necks amounted to being engaged."

"Yeah, but nobody else sees it that way," Steve said with a sigh. When Nancy looked up at him, she noticed again that his eyes were a little red.

"Were you crying, baby?" she asked, reaching up to put her hand on his cheek. "Not about this, I hope?"

"No, not about this," Steve insisted, placing his hand over hers. "Just about what a dick my dad is."

" _Former_ dad," Jonathan said with a smirk that got a laugh out of Steve. 

"Yeah, my former dad. Ex-father, like he's my mom's ex-husband," Steve replied.

They'd told Nancy about Fred's visit earlier that day, so she understood well enough. Winding her arms behind Steve's neck, Nancy said, "I'm sorry you felt bad. Can I do anything to cheer you up?"

"Besides what you've already done? Accepting my proposal?" Steve laughed happily, kissing Nancy. "Nothing else we can do here comes to mind."

"But you've got ideas for later?" Jonathan asked, one of his hands joining Nancy's on the back of Steve's neck. 

"Oh, yeah," Steve said. "I've got ideas for later."

Laughing happily, Nancy realized that the party was still going on without them. She picked up Steve's arm and looked at his watch. "We've only got fifteen minutes until the countdown. What do we think the odds are that someone will notice before then?"

"Eighty/twenty," Steve said, “but it depends on how you hold your hand.”

Grinning, Nancy hooked her left hand around Steve's right elbow. "How's that? Obvious enough?"

Jonathan looked at the two of them. "Not as obvious as you might think."

"Well, let's see what happens!" she said, tugging Steve with her to the door. 

Steve laughed and went with her, Jonathan following them back to the party.

It took less than ten seconds. Charlie, El, Robin, and Max were all standing near the hallway when they entered the living room together. Robin was the one who noticed first, her face lighting up in a bright smile. Charlie noticed next, and then El. But it was Max who gave an excited scream and all but attacked Nancy, crying, "Let me see!"

Indulging Max, Nancy held her hand out, basking in the attention as others came to see the ring too.

"Oh, my god! It's so pretty! Good job, dude," Max said, giving a thumbs up to Steve, who blushed and smiled and puffed out his chest with pride. Jonathan shook his head and slipped away, letting Steve and Nancy have the spotlight. 

It didn't take too long before Karen made her way through the crowd. She took Nancy's hand and looked at the ring before giving Steve a sly smile. "What an interesting choice."

"I love it," Nancy insisted, smiling over at Steve. "It's perfect."

"As long as you love it, dear," Karen said, giving Nancy a hug. "That's all that matters."

"Thanks, mom," Nancy said, meeting Karen's eyes long enough that she knew Nancy understood what she was saying. "Thanks."

"When are you thinking for the wedding?" Karen asked, admiring the ring again.

"Not for a while," Nancy insisted. " _Maybe_ summer of 1990."

"Yeah, like I was saying," Steve cut in. " _After_ graduation. Maybe later, depending on where we end up finding work."

Karen nodded. "Sounds like a solid plan." Then she waved her husband over. "Ted, look at this. Nancy's engaged."

"Oh?" he said, and his mild interest was more emotion than she'd seen from him in years. "Well, that's nice. Remind me to give you the number I have budgeted. I've written it down somewhere."

Nancy looked at her father. "Y-you have money already set aside for my wedding?"

"Yes," he said with an earnest nod. "Of course. My little girl deserves a nice wedding."

Tears formed in Nancy's eyes and she pushed forward, wrapping her arms around Ted and hugging him. "Thank you, Dad."

Ted didn't exactly hug her back, but he patted her arm and said, "You're welcome."

Of course, Harriet wanted to see the ring too, and Nancy could tell she was a little disappointed by the lack of size, but she still gushed and hugged Nancy, and then she hugged Steve and said something to him that made him grin and nod.

By the time all the discussion about the ring and the engagement was starting to die down, it was time to celebrate the new year. During the countdown, Nancy held hands with both Steve and Jonathan. At midnight, she kissed Jonathan first, then Steve. Then Steve looked at Jonathan and said, "C'mere, man!" and grabbed him, pulling him into a hard kiss. The people around them laughed, and some probably thought it was a joke, but Nancy knew better. 

She looked down again at her ring, and realized that she barely even felt it there. It had been six months since she took off her wedding ring, and putting an engagement one back on felt like an old habit resumed. She smiled and hugged her loved ones and danced and after they got back to her parents' house, Nancy brought her fiances up to her old high school room and kissed them breathless. Both of them.

Steve kissed Jonathan while Nancy got out of her party dress and hung it up, and then said, "Big day."

Jonathan laughed and welcomed Nancy back to bed, saying, "Yeah, it really was."

"A really big day," Nancy agreed.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't be shy about leaving notes! I'd love to hear what you thought!
> 
> The next part of the series is almost done. I'm hoping to finish in time to post the first chapter later this week. Make sure to subscribe to the [Mr. Sandman](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1527764) series so you don't miss it when it goes up!
> 
> You can find me on [pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.social/pterawaters) or [tumblr](https://pterawaters.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Please consider reblogging [this tumblr post](https://pterawaters.tumblr.com/post/190688705104/read-on-ao3-regarding-the-quiet-work-of-love-in) if you enjoyed the story!


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